


The Real Kicker

by ItsJustaDressDummy



Series: Playing the Fool [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alpha Azumane Asahi, Alpha Nishinoya Yuu, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Blow Jobs, Come Eating, Come Swallowing, Dubious Consent, Heartache, Knotting, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Masturbation, Multiple Orgasms, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Rutting, Scenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:53:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25630867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsJustaDressDummy/pseuds/ItsJustaDressDummy
Summary: So they fucked, and now their friendship seemed to be slowly breaking apart. Maybe Asahi could do something about it if Noya wasn't sending mixed signals like a busted traffic light.At Shinzen High, things didn't necessarily get any less confusing once Noya entered his own rut. His scent was bottled lightning sizzling in Asahi's nose, his touch an aftershock rumbling on his skin. A perfect recipe for certain doom.
Relationships: Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu
Series: Playing the Fool [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1857841
Comments: 37
Kudos: 129





	The Real Kicker

Blood rushed in his veins. The ball was there, right up there, Asahi only needed to jump, and he did, arms stretched back, calves and thighs coiled like a spiral spring and then releasing. He pulled his right arm back, eyes glued to the ball. The stretch burnt in his muscles so bad that he wouldn’t have been surprised if the fibre ruptured. His palm smacked against the leather and the ball fired down into the field. It bounced off the linoleum floor with a bang.

Asahi touched the ground grinning. Finally.

A squeak from the side was the only warning Asahi got before Noya launched himself onto his back.

„Fuck yeah!“ he screamed with his face buried in Asahi’s hair, „Fucking _finally_! I was so ready to tear down the stupid net!“

Asahi didn’t manage anything more than a light laugh, because he was busy choking on Noya’s scent. His knees buckled a little under the additional weight, but held fast. He wrapped one hand around Noya’s own clawed in his shirt to secure him. That only made it worse, though. Noya’s hand was warm and sweaty and strong. It sent all kinds of conflicting signals into his brain.

„Nice, Noya-San!“ Suga cheered from the side. „You anticipated Asahi’s moves pretty accurately there!“

„Right?“ Noya’s voice came from somewhere above Asahi. He stared at Suga’s shoulder, willed himself not to feel how Noya’s breath washed over the tip of his ear. Or his legs wrapped around his upper body like a vice. The heart beating against his shoulder blade.

Asahi pressed his lips together so they wouldn’t open, wouldn’t try to taste Noya’s scent on his tongue because that was futile anyway, he wasn’t in rut anymore, and he’d done so well not thinking about that at all. At least in the last ten minutes.

Asahi unwrapped his fingers from Noya’s hand one by one. Like usual, Noya didn’t get the hint and just continued to chill on Asahi’s back like on a jungle gym. Suga explained something about the position of his fingers, but Asahi didn’t pay attention. His brain was occupied with recording the feeling of Noya’s chin against his hair as he nodded along to Suga’s words.

Asahi suppressed a sigh. He wasn’t really doing himself any favors here, was he?

Gently, he shook his shoulders.

„Ah, sorry, Asahi-San!“ Noya slid off his back with a pat to his shoulder. When Asahi turned to give him a reassuring smile, Noya’s mouth was all teeth. „You got such a comfortable back, though. All padded with muscle!“

Asahi glitched. He didn’t know why Noya would say these things, as if they both couldn’t remember how Noya had ground himself against Asahi until he’d cum all over Asahi’s back and then slept on it, sweat and spunk and all, as if Asahi wasn’t haunted by the feeling of his tongue and lips on his scent gland every night, as if-

Asahi took a breath and unfroze his smile. „Glad I can be of service to you.“

Noya just grinned. He either didn’t notice Asahi’s lag or chose to ignore it. Asahi wasn’t sure which option he preferred.

„After this triumph, maybe we should pack up and head home,“ Suga suggested. Noya opened his mouth, clearly ready to argue, so Suga added, „Okay, no maybe. I’m pulling the vice captain card now, we’re going home before somebody strains something.“

Asahi recalled the painful stretch in his upper arm and nodded. Since Noya looked like he was trying to come up with a convincing argument, Asahi smiled at him. Over the years, he’d found that being gentle to Noya was sometimes more effective than anything else. Noya stared at him.

„Help me put down the net?“ Asahi asked.

After some more staring, Noya nodded.

Suga grinned at them. „That’s the spirit!“

Among the three of them, they made more or less fast work of the clean up. Asahi tried to suppress some yawning in between and failed. He was grateful when Suga locked the gym behind them, and they made their way to the club room.

Suga told them how his Japanese teacher had started crying over a poem in class, but Asahi wasn’t really listening. He dug his phone out of his gakuran, crossed his fingers that his mom had already gotten the groceries on her way home. As he thumbed into his phone, he saw that she’d send him a picture. He smiled at the photo of their kitchen table littered with groceries and accompanied with an emoticon wearing shades.

Still smiling a little, he roughly pulled his shirt over his head. She’d really gotten a lot. Maybe it actually would have been better if he’d gotten all of that. His mom was anything but weak, but tended to overdo it and drag the shopping bags over the pavement like a stubborn mule. Next time, he should probably-

„Asahi-San,“ Noya said.

He turned his head, glanced at the hair tie in Noya’s hand. Wasn’t that… Ah.

Noya grinned a little at him. „You stealing your mom’s ties again?“

„I never steal my mom’s ties.“ He was prepared to testify that in court.

„Uh-huh, totally. You only use black ones, doofus. Not blue.“

Noya stepped closer, completely ignoring Asahi’s outstretched hand. He ran his fingers through Asahi’s loose hair. The touch was enough to petrify Asahi on the spot. His heart banged like a sledgehammer in his chest while Noya gathered strands of his hair between his fingers. The nails of his hands scratched ever so lightly against Asahi’s scalp. His fingers were really warm.

The world felt close, narrow. Focussed on this tiny moment with everything else diminishing into background noise.

Noya retied his hair at the back of his head. Asahi wondered what it would be like to kiss him.

Noya’s slap to his shoulder jarred him just as much as his loud voice. „All done!“

Suga snorted. „It looks a little… wonky.“

„Well,“ Noya huffed, „It was kinda difficult from down here with this oaf being so big.“

Asahi could hardly squeeze out anything around the lump in his throat, but managed, „Thanks, Noya-San.“ Hastily, he pulled his school shirt over his head.

His heart didn’t stop pounding all the way down the hill. Asahi focussed more on putting one foot in front of the other than the conversation around him. He stole a glance at Suga’s face. If he noticed that there was something weird with Asahi, he didn’t let it show.

Asahi almost let his eyes wander to his other side, but reminded himself he didn’t need to. Noya would just ignore whatever was going on with him. Asahi wouldn’t have guessed, but Noya was the champ of ignoring things he didn’t want to acknowledge. Like the fact that they’d had sex, that he’d marked Asahi with his seed, that he’d fucking knotted against his ass.

The first day after, Asahi had been relieved. Everything was the same. Noya had raced over to him as soon as he’d entered the gym for morning practice, reenacting the talk he’d had with his moms over the cat he wanted to adopt. He’d assisted him with his stretches, cheered for him when he’d pounded the ball into the ground. Except for the disappointment lurking in the corner of Asahi’s gut, it had been great.

Until Asahi’d realized three days later that Noya hadn’t texted him once. And then five days later that they hadn’t hung out at all outside of practice. And then seven days later that Noya hadn’t invited him over to have a look at his future cat, although he’d pestered Asahi about it for four days straight.

So they’d fucked, and their friendship was slowly but inevitably derailing, and Noya either couldn’t see it or didn’t care. And that fucking sucked.

Once they were passed Sakanoshita, Asahi veered off to the right. „I have to get groceries before going home,“ he lied to the questioning faces of his friends.

„Alright. See you tomorrow, Asahi!“ Suga waved at him. Noya waved, too, good-naturedly and open. Asahi returned the gesture and hoped they couldn’t see the bitter look on his face.

He took the long way home, passed the grocery store along the main road and around Noya’s house. It added an extra twenty minutes to his walk, but he didn’t really care. What he cared about was not having to listen to Noya’s stories and his voice like everything was okay when it clearly wasn’t. Did Noya honestly not see that? He knew that Noya was perceptive, he always noticed when there was something bothering Asahi. Which meant that Noya likely _did_ see what was going on and was letting it happen on purpose.

Asahi clenched his fists. Sure, he wasn’t as close to Noya as Tanaka, but he’d always thought that their friendship meant _something_ to Noya. At least enough not to let it fizzle out like this. You didn’t just almost walk out on a club your friend had quit if you didn’t give two shits about your stupid friend, did you?

A car honked, tires screeched. The sound was close enough to make Asahi flinch. His eyes skipped to a car not far off on the street, its engine rumbling while the driver shouted at a kid on a bike he’d almost run over. The kid screamed right back into his face. It got a shouting match going that had people open their windows and balcony doors in order to bear witness to it.

What a nice, backwater town he lived in. Just as Asahi shuffled forward, he heard a sniffle.

He glanced to his left. A narrow alley twisted behind the walls and back yard fences of the houses. It was still light outside, so Asahi didn’t have any trouble making out the hunched figure next to the postbox. It was a girl, dressed in the Karasuno High uniform. His eyes wandered higher, over the long, jet-black hair falling over her face like a curtain. Obviously, a lot of girls at Karasuno High had long, black hair, but this girl still seemed familiar somehow. Her shoulders shook, fingers clenched around her phone pressed to her stomach as she dug around in the pockets of her blazer. She cursed softly, turned her head slightly.

Oh, that was Minako. Minako Something from the girls’ volleyball club, a setter and… a Third Year? Asahi should really learn how to be better with names, they weren’t really close enough for him to use her first name, but that was the only one he remembered, and shit, now he was almost in front of her and was it Yamashita? Yamada? Ya-

„Minako-San?“

The girl jumped so hard that she rammed her shoulder against the postbox and yelled, „Fuck!“

Shit! „I’m sorry!“ Asahi blurted instantly, hands hovering over her doubtlessly injured shoulder, „I didn’t mean to scare you! I forget sometimes that people think I’m a knife-wielding drug dealer-“

But Minako was already laughing, wetly and almost indistinguishable from sobbing. „Re-relax, I’m o-okay,“ she stuttered in between gasps for air.

Asahi just stood there while she calmed down. Minako quickly scrubbed the sleeves of her blazer over her face, tucked her hair back. Asahi also noticed that she took a couple steps away from him and tried not to read too much into it.

Minako looked up at him with moist eyes. „Azumane-San,“ she said, and of course she could remember his name, „Can I help you?“

„Can I help _you_?“ Minako blinked at him. „It’s just, I saw you crying. Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?“

She simply shook her head. „No.“

Asahi swallowed. „Are you sure? You, you don’t need anything?“

Minako hunched her shoulders, but kept her head straight. „No, thank you.“

Asahi pressed his lips together. Something in him wanted to call her out on her bullshit. Obviously, they didn’t know each other nearly well enough for that to be okay. It was just… Asahi knew what it meant when somebody cried by themselves, quiet and alone in a place where they hoped not to be found. It meant that they felt like they didn’t have anywhere to turn to with their tears.

Asahi knew a thing or two about that. So he took out his phone.

„Do you want to watch a video about volleyball players getting facials?“

Minako’s mouth opened. She said nothing.

Oh God, was that weird? Was Asahi being weird? „To cheer you up?“ he added hopefully.

„Uhm,“ she murmured, probably trying to find a way out of this social situation.

„Or a video about children running into things without hurting themselves? Be, because they’re stupid?“ Shit, what was he saying, that was _worse_ -

Minako gave a wet snort. „Sounds, sounds great,“ she sniffled.

Asahi quickly thumbed into his app and chose a bookmarked video. He held out his phone at an angle so that they could both see the screen without Minako having to come closer to him. The video started, and they watched.

Fortunately, it wasn’t nearly as awkward as Asahi feared it would be. Minako was very receptive to children bashing their body parts into various surfaces. Soon enough, she was giggling along to almost every clip while Asahi grinned next to her.

Then came a particularly good one with a kid doing several accidental backflips while jumping off a swing that had them both laugh out loud.

„Okay, okay,“ Minako chortled, „This was better than I expected.“

Asahi stopped the video, quietly pleased with himself. Minako’s eyes flashed at him. „What else do you have?“

There was a moment of silence. Then Asahi blurted, „Do you like otters?“

Minako nodded, so he opened another bookmark. They watched some otters juggle and play with their favorite rocks while a narrator described theories on why they behaved like that.

„I don’t even care why they do it,“ Asahi said, completely engrossed in the video, „It’s enough for me just to witness this cuteness, I don’t need a reason why.“

Minako giggled again. „I agree,“ she said, shifted a little closer. Her scent became more perceptible. It was flowery like a lot of Omegas’, but mellow and subtle. Like a summer rose.

They cooed at the otters romping and frolicking in the video together. Once it ended, Asahi pocketed his phone, looked at Minako. She smiled back at him.

„That was surprisingly effective. And nice, of you. Thank you,“ she said.

Asahi smiled, relieved to see her eyes dry, if a little red. „No problem,“ he replied.

Then he bit his lip. He wasn’t sure how to ask the next part without it coming off as invasive, but he just wanted to make sure.

„Are, are you okay to go home?“

Her expression shuttered a little. „Yes. I think I’ll be alright,“ Minako answered.

Asahi nodded. „Okay, good. I have to walk a little further down the main road. We can go some way together, if that’s also your direction.“

„Yeah, actually,“ Minako agreed, „I have to catch the bus to Tomiya.“

Asahi smiled at her. „Okay.“

Minako picked up her bag from the ground and together, they started walking. Asahi tried to engage her a little in conversation, but wasn’t really sure which subject to broach. His fumbled attempts revolving around volleyball and otters didn’t bear much fruit.

Once they reached the bus station, Asahi asked, „Is your bus coming soon?“

Minako checked her phone. „I think so.“

Asahi hesitated. „Okay. I’ll be heading home now, unless you want me to stay and wait with you?“

She stared at him. Asahi wasn’t really sure what to do with that, so he fidgeted a little with his cuffs. Then, Minako smiled, dim but genuine.

„No, thank you, that’s alright. You should go home.“

„Okay,“ Asahi said, nodding, „Then… Have a safe trip home. See you tomorrow. Maybe.“

Asahi winced a little, but Minako just nodded. „You, too. See you tomorrow.“

After one last, awkward smile, Asahi turned around and walked home.

The setting sun drew long shadows over the pavement. It was still warm and only going to get hotter in the coming weeks. Asahi tried not to hink of Minako crying alone in an alley and failed. Really, it was none of his business. They were hardly acquainted with one another. If it wasn’t for the fact that she played in the female volleyball club, he wouldn’t have recognized her at all. He couldn’t remember having talked to her once in the three years he’d been at Karasuno High, actually.

But all of that still wasn’t enough to keep Asahi from wondering why she’d cried.

The next day, Asahi stood with his bento in his hand in the door frame of his class and stared at Minako.

„Hello,“ he said.

She nodded at him. „Azumane-San. Can I talk to you for a second? On the roof?“

Asahi was kind of stunned, but… why not? „Sure.“

Without speaking, they took the stairs up to the roof. Asahi quickly fired off a text to Suga and Daichi to let them know he’d be late before stepping out onto the rooftop. The sun was beating down rather harshly that day, so there were only a few students around.

Minako started walking towards the fence, Asahi on her heels. Once at the edge of the roof, Minako turned around and conjured forth a small package, just large enough to fit in her palm. She offered it to him.

Asahi took it with a hasty bow. It was wrapped in what appeared to be a paper napkin. The rough texture stuck a little to whatever was inside as Asahi unfolded it. Soon enough, an onigiri rested in the center of his palm.

„I wanted to say thank you.“

Asahi looked up from the rice ball in his hand with wide eyes. Minako shifted on her feet, her face withdrawn. „For yesterday. I’m sorry it’s just an onigiri, I really suck at baking and shit like that. Ah.“ She blushed a little. „I’m sorry.“

Asahi blinked. „For what?“

„Swearing.“

Asahi shrugged. „I swear, too.“ Mostly in his head, but still. He did.

Minako didn’t say anything, just nodded.

„Ah, thanks!“ Asahi stumbled out, „For the. The rice ball. That wasn’t necessary, but thanks. How, how are you today?“

„Better.“

Silence.

Asahi cleared his throat. „Do you have practice today?“

„Yeah,“ Minako replied, „I’m looking forward to some downtime during the summer vacation. You?“

„Uh, yes. Our club is going on a trip to Tokio soon, though. For a training camp.“

„Oh,“ Minako said.

Silence again.

Okay, he was actually getting hungry now. And Suga and Daichi were probably wondering where he was, so he should probably… leave?

Just as Asahi opened his mouth, Minako blurted out, „Do you want to go to the zoo with me?“

Asahi’s mouth fell shut.

„There’s a zoological park about an hour from Tomiya. It’s not very big, but they have a big preserve with otters. You can even feed them. Would you go with me?“

Minako’s eyes hovered just over his shoulders. Asahi looked at her fists clenched in her skirt. They might have been shaking, but he wasn’t sure. He looked up at her closed off face. She, she really didn’t have any friends, did she?

„Yeah, sounds good,“ Asahi replied, smiling, „When do you want to go?“

Her eyes snapped up to his face. „On Sunday?“ With a small smile, she added, „Could be like a start into the summer vacation.“

„I’d like that. Ah, how about I give you my number, and we can talk more about it over Line?“

Minako nodded and fished out her phone. It was cracked on the upper corner, but not bad enough to make writing on it difficult. After he saved his contact, Asahi handed the phone back to her.

„Text me, and we’ll decide on when and how to meet, okay?“

„Yes,“ Minako said, and after a pause continued, „Thank you, I. Thanks.“

Asahi wasn’t really sure for what, but he nodded anyway before waving goodbye to her.

Once he was sitting on the stairs next to Daichi, Suga eyed the rice ball in his hand like a hawk.

„Where did you get that from?“

„Minako gave it to me,“ Asahi responded, fighting off sticky corns of rice from his fingers, „I helped her yesterday on my way home, and she gave me the onigiri as thanks.“

Daichi narrowed his eyes in thought. „Minamoto Minako? From the girls’ volleyball club?“

„Oh, that’s her name! I couldn’t remember it yesterday and only called her Minako-San.“ And it was so memorable, too! A little, well, much on the alliteration front maybe. But it wasn’t like his mom hadn’t unleashed her inner poet when she named _him_.

In that moment, Asahi’s phone pinged. He dug it out of his pants and saw that he’d gotten a text from an unknown number. It was a picture of an otter with a summer hat photoshopped on its head.

Asahi thumbed on the phone number and saved it under _Minamoto Minako_. He almost laughed a little at the name, but that would have been rude, so he didn’t.

A few hours later, Noya pushed down hard on Asahi’s shoulders. „Come on, Ace-Senpai! You can do it!“

Asahi huffed, because really? „My tendons don’t stretch that far,“ he groaned. His hands were already flat on the ground, his face only centimeters away from the linoleum. The sinews in his thighs _screamed_. How far did Noya want him to go?

„Sure they do,“ Noya replied. Asahi could clearly hear the grin in his voice. „Come on, down you go!“

His underarms joined his palms on Asahi’s back. Slowly, Noya shifted most of his weight on Asahi’s shoulders. He almost brushed the ground with the tip of his nose, Noya heavy on his back, using his weight and muscles to steadily push Asahi down, holding him there until Asahi was basically trapped under him. He bit his lip. If only Noya would use even more strength, push him down until he was flat on the ground and keep him there, fingers creeping into the leg of his practice shorts and under his boxers up to his-

„Noya-San,“ he rasped.

The pressure disappeared. „Ah, sorry, Asahi-San! Was that too much? Did I hurt you?“

Asahi unfolded himself slowly. His dick had filled up a bit, but probably not so much that it would be noticeable. He gave Noya an unimpressed look. „I thought we were practicing volleyball, not ballet.“

Noya looked down at him and cackled. „Flexibility is important for volleyball players, too!“ Then he grinned, mouth stretched wide and eyes piercing. „Such a shame, though. I bet you’d look great in a tutu.“

Asahi had to choke a little on that before he could roll his eyes at Noya. „Ha ha,“ he commented as he picked himself up. Noya flopped down in the spot he’d previously occupied and spread his legs. Of course, he went down easily when Asahi exerted pressure on his shoulder blades.

Noya’s voice sounded a little muffled when he said, „So I finally got Oba-San.“

Asahi frowned. „You got who?“

„The cat! I named it Oba-San, ’cause she’s old.“

„Didn’t she have a name before you got her?“

„Yeah, her name was Chili, but, like, she’s too old for that now. She’s an old lady, her adventures are far behind her. She needs to be careful with the spiciness of life now.“

Asahi snorted. „Makes total sense,“ he agreed and eased up with the pressure. They both lifted themselves off the ground at the same time. For some reason, Noya was standing unreasonably close. His scent teased the edges of Asahi’s senses. It was ridiculous for him to want to taste it in his mouth again, but still he did.

„Do you wanna come over after practice on Saturday?“ Noya asked with a smile. „You gotta see Oba-San, she will redefine your understanding of cuteness. Like a new kind of scientific discovery in… the field of adorableness.“

God, why did Noya have to be so disgustingly charming even when he wasn’t trying? Asahi couldn’t _not_ giggle at that like a little kid. Then he had to clench his hands a little, because Noya had just invited him to his house again. After no calls, no texts, nothing but superficial talks in the presence of other people he wanted to show Asahi his new cat and share an afternoon with him.

So maybe their friendship was back on track, and Asahi had worried for nothing, and they would be okay after all, and Asahi really had to dig his fingernails into his palms to keep himself from getting too excited.

He smiled down at Noya and hoped none of his thoughts had transferred onto his face. „How could I pass up the chance to witness a scientific breakthrough? When do you want to meet?“

Noya scrunched up his nose, and even that was cute. „Like, three-ish? Then I can have a shower and shove all of my stuff under the bed before you come.“

Asahi grinned. „If I can take the state of your room while your parents were on vacation for four weeks, I’m sure I can take however it looks like now.“

„Oh, brave words from a brave man!“ Noya declared just as Ukai’s whistle rang out through the gym. He grabbed Asahi’s wrist and dragged him across the hall where their teammates were already gathering. There was literally no reason for him to be doing that, Asahi had proven several times that he was capable of walking across the gym without getting lost. Still, Noya only let his wrist go once they stood in front of their coach.

The only thing Asahi could do was stare unseeing at Ukai’s face, because that, that had almost been like holding hands.

The last day of school was extremely uneventful. Everybody was too eager for summer vacation to start to pay much attention in class, including the teachers.

Practice, on the other hand, was a constant rush with the team high on their imminent freedom and the training camp in Tokio. The only ones that didn’t seem excited at all were Kageyama and Hinata. They didn’t exchange one word with one another, instead completely ignoring each other’s existence. It was kind of unsettling.

Shamefully, Asahi couldn’t summon a lot of concern for his Underclassmen. He was too busy fighting off a grin whenever his eyes landed on Noya.

Actually, it was nothing to get excited about. They’d hung out at Noya’s place before, playing games or studying or watching volleyball matches. It was just, Asahi just. He was looking forward to being in Noya’s home again. Where every little nook and cranny was permeated with his scent, especially his room, and. And maybe Asahi could scrape together enough courage to tell him that it hadn’t been meaningless to him, that he’d been wanting to do that for a long time and that he, that he really, _really_ -

A hand seized his wrist, and of course it was Noya’s, nobody else touched Asahi like that, really.

„You got 40 minutes,“ he informed Asahi grinning before waving goodbye to him and jogging up the path to his house.

„See you in a bit,“ Asahi responded smiling.

He agonized over what to wear while simultaneously telling himself that it didn’t matter because they were just hanging out, absolutely nothing close to a date was going on here, all the way home.

His mom was eating a popsicle in the living room and congratulated on him on his temporary freedom when he stepped through the door.

„How about we go and get some pizza to ring in your vacation?“ she shouted at him as he bounded up the stairs.

„Can’t, I’m going to Noya’s,“ he informed her and stepped into his room. His eyes traced over the articles of clothing in his wardrobe. He should just grab something, just dig his hand in and take out whatever his fingers brushed first. He really should. Instead, he went up on his tiptoes to reach the shelf where he kept his creations. Very purposefully, he pulled out a simple, black shirt he’d sewed earlier in the year. Usually, he focussed on women’s apparel, but they had sold the black fabric at the store dirt-cheap, and well, why not make something that somebody would actually wear for once? He had spent hours form-fitting it to perfection, and it looked kind of good on him.

Already feeling like he was overdoing it, Asahi just dragged out a clean pair of jeans, socks and boxers and went to take a shower. He decided to blow-dry his hair just enough for it to be slightly damp. It would probably dry on his way to Noya’s house, anyway.

When he walked down the stairs, his mom was examining the rotten wood on their veranda. She poked at it with a screw driver, boring into the soft wood and splintering it. That was something they’d definitely had to take care of this summer. And then there was the hole in their kitchen wall, and the missing roof tiles. Asahi sighed slightly. He liked his home, but there was no denying that it was a bit of a shit hole.

His mom registered his footsteps and turned to him smiling. „You’re going to Noya’s?“

„Yeah,“ Asahi said, „His parents allowed him to adopt that cat from his neighbor, and he invited me over to come look at it.“ Which kind of made it sound like they were nine year olds, but whatever. A cute cat was a cute cat and deserved to be appreciated.

His mom seemed to have a similar thought, because she just grinned and commented, „Such a wholesome son I have.“

„Uh-huh,“ Asahi agreed, walked to the genkan. „You can text me if I should get anything form the grocery store.“

„Will do!“ his mom replied, stabbing a little bit more at the spongy wood. They waved at each other, and Asahi left for Noya’s house.

Ten minutes later, he rang the doorbell, toes curling in his shoes out of nervousness but trying not to let it show. Fumiko opened the door with a thready towel on her head.

„Asahi-Kun,“ she greeted him pleasantly while he sketched a bow. Fumiko smiled and made room for him to enter. Asahi slinked past her, hackles already fluttering and feeling guilty for it. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t forget the time she’d gone ballistic at him. His mom had entered her heat on the day of one of his visits, and Asahi had carried her heightened scent straight to the Nishinoyas. He remembered Fumiko towering over him as he crouched in Noya’s room, shoes still halfway tied and smacking against her heels. She’d spit out the suggestion that his single Omega mom should try her dirty tricks somewhere else, because her own Alpha was taken.

It had left Asahi torn between mortified and livid. The image of a single Omega ripping apart families because they were in desperate need of an Alpha was still a universally shared prejudice. But it sucked to realize that not even his friend’s parents were immune to such stupid crap. After she’d calmed down, the Nishinoyas, including Fumiko herself, had apologized profusely to him, and Asahi had accepted. He’d not been able to forget how she’d immediately accused his mom of being a home wrecker, though.

As Asahi removed his shoes, his eyes fell on a pair of sneakers scribbled with waves and caked with mud. His brows raised a little. Those were Tanaka’s.

„Yo, Ace-Sama.“

Asahi’s eyes skidded towards the owner of the sneakers standing in the kitchen door frame. Asahi smiled at him. „Don’t call me that,“ he chided softly, although everybody knew there was no real chiding Tanaka. As always, Tanaka just grinned back at him. „I’m getting us some ice tea, you want some?“

Asahi stepped out of the genkan and gave Fumiko one last polite bow. Her smile grew before she left them to their own devices. In the kitchen, he eyed the two cartons of ice tea Tanaka shook in presentation at him. „The lemon one, please,“ Asahi said.

Tanaka winked at him. „Your wish is my command, Ace-Sama,“ he twanged as he poured three glasses of ice tea with a flourish. Asahi continued to smile at Tanaka’s antics all the way to Noya’s room.

Over the years, Asahi had perfected a technique that would allow him to scent in Noya’s room without it being obvious. It was actually kind of shameful, but also… really, really nice. Because Noya’s smell was different here, not as strong and direct as it was on his body, but more comfortable, natural, cozy. It always left Asahi feeling relaxed and soft, like he just wanted to laze around all day surrounded by this scent.

Tanaka walked over to the low table in the middle of the room and clanked down their glasses. „There you go, sweet drinks from cute Alphas,“ he announced before plopping down into one of the seat cushions.

„Thanks, cutie,“ Noya replied grinning. He glanced at Asahi sitting down across from him. Suddenly, his eyes widened, his mouth opened, closed. Then he burst out, „What in the, Asahi-San, did you get even _buffer_?“

Asahi glanced down at himself. „I, no, I don’t-“

„I think you did,“ Tanaka agreed, scrutinizing him through narrowed eyes, „Or maybe it’s the shirt? Did you wash it with too hot water? I do that all the time.“

Asahi could feel himself color up to the roots of his hair. Maybe he _did_ mess up the fit a little. „Uh, I actually, actually this shirt-“ was all he could press out of his throat.

Noya nodded. „That’s probably it. Shame, though. Looks pretty new.“ He grinned up at Asahi good-naturedly. „You should better get rid of it. You don’t want anybody to think that you’re trying too hard to impress, huh?“

For a moment, Asahi felt absolutely and unexpectedly gutted. A lump grew rapidly in his throat, but he swallowed it down. It was stupid, pathetic. Nobody except for his mom knew that he could sew, so obviously Noya and Tanaka didn’t know that he’d made the shirt himself. They didn’t know that this was the first time he was wearing something he’d sewed in public. Maybe, maybe this was better, because if they’d known they probably wouldn’t have told him what they really thought. Yeah, this, this was better.

The lump hadn’t dissolved completely, so Asahi swallowed again, cleared his throat. The only thing more pathetic than feeling so ridiculously hurt was having his friends bear witness to it.

„I think you’re right,“ he agreed.

Suddenly, Noya said in a soft tone, „There you are.“

An exploded ball of striped fluff was rubbing its head against Noya’s side. Asahi recognized Oba-San from the pictures Noya had forced on him, but in person she was… surprisingly unkempt.

„Asahi-San.“ Noya motioned for him to come closer, so Asahi crawled over the tatami to crouch next to him.

Oba-San looked at him, sniffed at his outstretched fingers. Promptly, she started stepping all over his lap as he ruffled her fur. It was very soft, the gentle slide of his fingers through it almost soothing. Asahi couldn’t help but smile when she stared at him through half-lidded eyes and gave a high-pitched meow.

„She’s missing one of her canines,“ he assessed.

„She’s actually missing three. Only has one left,“ Noya corrected and reached out. He ran his fingers from the crown of her head to the root of her tail. Their fingers brushed over each other through the cat’s fur. Asahi was proud at himself for not even flinching at the contact. Soon after, Tanaka joined in on the cat cuddling, which had Oba-San do a little tippy dance on Asahi’s lap.

Asahi snorted. „She’s really cute,“ he said, still smiling.

Noya hummed in apparent satisfaction of his cat having gained Asahi’s approval.

„So,“ Tanaka said, „Warm water so they piss themselves in their sleep?“

Asahi stared at him. „What?“

„We’re trying to decide what prank to play on the other teams during training camp,“ Noya brought him into the loop. He turned to Tanaka. „I don’t know, man, sounds kinda… old-fashioned.“

„Well, cutting up their practice shirts sounds a little psycho, though.“

„Why do you have to prank the other teams?“ Asahi asked.

Tanaka slapped his shoulder hard. „To establish ourselves as leaders of the pack. To show them who’s boss.“

Oh, God. „Didn’t we leave that stuff behind several thousands of years ago?“

„A reminder never hurts,“ Tanaka said grinning.

Asahi frowned and suggested, „We could just beat them at volleyball?“

„Which we will, but we need more,“ Noya declared, „Like… steal their phones and throw them down a manhole.“

There was no response from Tanaka, so Asahi felt he needed to point out, „That’s… illegal, though.“

They both stared at him as if it was his responsibility to come up with a counter suggestion. He swallowed. „Put, put itching powder into their practice shoes?“

Noya smirked at him. „Aww. Bless you, Asahi-San, you’re too sweet for this.“

Asahi huffed. „Well, at least that’s not going to get you arrested for property damage.“

„He’s got a point there,“ Tanaka mused. He nodded in determination. „Okay, I’ll go pee, you two look up how much itching powder is online.“

„Alright,“ Asahi sighed. He dragged his phone out of his jeans pockets and thumbed into the browser.

When Tanaka had left the room, Noya jumped to his feet. „I’ll go get us some more ice tea.“

Asahi glanced at their glasses. „We haven’t even touched our drinks yet,“ he pointed out. He was about to tease Noya a little about his ice tea addiction, but the words died right on his tongue when he saw Noya’s face. It was frozen, a guilty twist to it. Like he’d been caught doing something red-handed.

Asahi stared at him. „Water, then,“ Noya stammered and fled the room.

Asahi looked unseeing at the spot that was previously occupied by Noya. A flush of cold water doused him from head to toe, running over his shoulders down his back, into his chest. He swallowed, but there was no lump this time. Just an icy certainty.

Noya didn’t want to be alone with him. That was why Tanaka was here. Because Noya didn’t want to, was scared to be alone with him.

Asahi’s hand curled stiffly in Oba-San’s fur. Did he think that Asahi would try something? Try to kiss him? Try to shove his dick down his throat? That Asahi was too gay to resist begging for any Alpha cock he saw? His heart started to race. Noya didn’t know that he was gay, though. Or maybe he was suspecting it, he, he could suspect it. He probably knew it already, fuck, of course he did. No non-queer Alpha would enjoy submitting to another one like he’d done, so stupidly desperate-

„So how much?“ Tanaka asked as he slid into Noya’s room on his socked feet. Asahi flinched so hard that Oba-San complained at the disturbance. He unlocked his phone, eyes glued to the screen.

„Uh, sorry, I got distracted, but… Google says something like 200 yen. But it’s only a small packet.“

Asahi heard Noya walk into the room, but didn’t look up. Naturally, Noya would only return once the coast was clear and he wasn’t in danger of being raped by his friend. He saw that his phone shook slightly in his fingers, so he leaned his wrist on the table. Noya placed a jug of water next to his hand.

„Hm, so how many would we have to buy?“ Tanaka asked, „Like, twenty packets?“

„Depends on how many people you want to prank,“ Asahi mumbled.

Noya said with steely resolve, „Everyone.“

Asahi bit his lip. He just wanted to go home.

For a little while, they were looking up itching powder, but soon enough Tanaka and Noya got tangled in an argument about who was better at Tekken. So they started playing it to prove each other wrong. Asahi sat next to them, Oba-San draped over his lap like a tablecloth, and checked the time on his phone every once in a while to see whether an appropriate amount of time had passed for him to leave.

When the digits on his lock screen neared the two hour mark, he lifted Oba-San gently from his thighs. She protested, but Asahi placated her quickly with a few more ruffles. He pocketed his phone and said, „I have to go now. My mom wanted me to help her with dinner.“

„Okay, dude,“ Tanaka said, grinning and waving at him, „See you next week! We’ll let you know on what kind of awesome prank we’ve settled on.“

Asahi’s mouth twisted wryly. „I can’t wait to hear it.“

He glanced at Noya, who was looking back at him with a kind of arrested expression. Like he wanted to say something, but couldn’t think of it now. Asahi inclined his head slightly, said, „Thanks for having me.“ He only noticed how formal that had been when Noya frowned at him. „No problem,“ he responded.

Asahi tried a smile, but didn’t even care whether he succeeded or not. He waved a little at Oba-San before stepping out of the room.

On his way to the genkan, he peered into the kitchen. Fumiko sat at the dinner table, typing something into her phone. Behind her stood Erika and played with her hair, now free of the towel. Asahi watched her nostrils twitch, taking in her Omega’s scent. For whatever reason, her mouth was curled into a grin. Noya shared so many of her features that it made him almost feel nostalgic. Instead, he smiled a little, his eyes skipping from one to the other. They wore matching blouses.

Asahi didn’t make it to the genkan before Erika noticed him. Her smile widened. „Hey, Asahi-Kun,“ she said.

„Hello, Erika-San,“ he muttered back, „I, I like your blouses.“

Erika’s grin grew teeth while Fumiko smirked a little. „Thanks!“

He bowed at them and ducked into the genkan. His shoes slipped onto his feet like butter.

„Asahi-San!“ Noya screamed at him. Asahi whipped his head around and watched Noya slip and slide along the hallway. He came to a halt in front of him, thrust out something in his hand. „You forgot these last time.“

Crumpled in his palm were two of his hair ties. Asahi blinked in bemusement. He’d forgotten two at the same time? How had he managed that?

He picked them out of Noya’s hand and stuffed them into his pocket. „Thank you, Noya-San,“ he said and raised himself off the ground.

Standing on the step into the hallway, Noya was almost the same height as Asahi.

They looked at each other. After a few seconds, Asahi opened his mouth, but Noya steamrolled right over him. „Can I come over sometime?“

Asahi blinked at him.

With a conspiratorial tone, Noya continued, „I kinda miss your mom’s White Stew, the one from my moms sucks. And we wanted to watch that K-drama, remember?“

Asahi clenched his fist. He kind of thought that being alone with him, in his home, in his room, watching tv, was about the last thing Noya wanted. But now he looked at Asahi intently, eyes wide and eager.

Asahi looked right back at him, words pushing against his teeth like _I don’t understand what you want from me_ , or _I think we’re messing this up_ , or _I think about kissing you a lot_.

Instead, he said, „Yeah, you can come over any time.“

Noya smiled at him. It was a new smile, light and pleased, a bashful tilt to it that Asahi must have imagined. But imagined or not, it made his chest bloom and whither at the same time.

Asahi waved goodbye, walked home, prepared dinner with his mom, and all the while, the shape of Noya’s lips ghosted through his mind like a tenacious spirit.

On Sunday, it rained. That didn’t really make for an amazing time at the zoo, but neither Minako nor Asahi were willing to give up the sight of real life otters, even if the public feeding was cancelled. So in the rain they stood, likely the only visitors on that day, water drops pelting down on their umbrellas. Fortunately, the otters couldn’t care less about the weather. They swam and curled through the water, chased each other and rearranged the pebbles on the shore.

„I saw a video of otters going after a crocodile once,“ Minako said.

Asahi was so immersed in the adorableness of an otter couple grooming each other that he almost missed what Minako had been saying. „Really?“ he finally responded, „Why did they do that?“

Minako grinned. „To chase the crocodile away. And because they’re badass little creatures. They’re so small, but they don’t take shit from anybody.“

Asahi could think of one person that fit that description. Maybe even two.

„We have so much to learn from them,“ he mused, „Like how to float in the water while holding hands.“

„Or how to stack tiny buckets in record time.“

Asahi gasped, „Right! I forgot about that one. How could I forget, that is like the cutest thing since the domestication of rabbits.“

Minako laughed. When Asahi looked over at her, he caught her eyes still twinkling. She had emphasized the arch of her upper lid with eyeliner, and it suited her.

She turned to him, her lips caught in a smile. „Let’s look at some more animals.“

Asahi nodded. „Sure.“

They walked along the park. Most animals had sought shelter from the rain and were nowhere in sight, which was especially disheartening once they realized the park had a petting zoo. They decided to pay it a visit anyway. The goats and sheep eyed them from the safety of their shed, chewing listlessly. Abrupt chaos broke out when Minako had the brilliant idea to buy some animal grain. A vortex of cattle swarmed her from all sides, encircling her like the eye of a storm. Asahi watched her fling the food at them as if it was a protective charm and petted an elderly goat that was surprisingly affectionate.

Once all the food had been hurled, Minako hobbled through the mud towards him. She was miraculously unscathed, although the same couldn’t be said for her pants.

„Goddamn animals,“ she cursed, but the excited grin on her face belied her words.

„Uh-huh, that didn’t look fun at all.“ Asahi stopped petting the old goat. He grimaced at his hand, which was thick with dirt. So apparently that old goat wasn’t brown, but beige and unspeakably filthy.

Minako snorted. „I guess we should both get cleaned up.“

After a few minutes of walking, they came upon a small cafe. They ordered a couple of hot drinks before attempting to clean themselves in the restrooms.

After some much needed hand washing, Asahi emerged from the bathroom and walked over to the counter. The barista had just placed their drinks on the polished wood. Asahi was about to thank her when she raised her hand. She did a couple of quick, practiced hand movements, and suddenly, one of the drinks was topped with sprinkles and a heart-shaped cookie.

Asahi glanced from the drink back to the barista. With a wink, she said, „For your date.“

It was like somebody had yanked a rug out from right under Asahi’s feet, sending him careening into the floor.

For a moment, his heart stuttered like a rusty engine, before it started to hammer against his ribs. He swallowed roughly, rasped at the barista, „Thank you.“ Mechanically, he turned around and staggered towards the door.

Holy fucking shit, this was a date. Asahi was on a _date_. The first one in his life, and he hadn’t even been aware of it. Oh God, Minako had asked him out, and he hadn’t _noticed_.

He padded over to their table outside like a newborn kitten. Minako smiled at him as he put her drink down in front of her. Quickly, Asahi stared at his own tea to avoid seeing her face when she saw the cookie.

 _Of course_ this was a date. Minako had even asked him out on the roof, the most popular place for romantic encounters in the entire school. She’d given him a home-made onigiri. Might as well have been Valentine’s Day chocolate. Asahi almost bit through the inside of his cheek. God, why was he so fucking stupid? It was so obvious in hindsight! He was just so gay that he hadn’t even considered the possibility that this might be a date!

Asahi took a nervous sip from his tea and scalded his tongue. He tried to disguise his whimper by clearing his throat, but judging by the amused look Minako gave him he’d failed.

Slowly, Minako’s face sobered. „Azumane-San,“ she muttered, „There’s something I wanted to tell you.“

Oh God, oh fuck, this was the point where she’d tell him that she’d had a huge crush on him for ages and that she would hang herself if he didn’t return her feelings, and he’d be trapped in a loveless relationship forever-

Feeling like he was close to hyperventilating, Asahi gulped down a few calming breaths. „Yeah?“ he managed to say.

Minako’s hands clenched around the mug in her hands, cookie lying next to it. Asahi noticed that her breathing was coming kind of fast, forced. Was it too late to just leap up and run all the way home?

The pebbles under them crunched as Minako dug her heels into the ground. Her face was serious, but her voice soft when she said, „I’m gay.“

The world tipped over 180 degrees.

Asahi breathed heavily through his nose, his fingers fluttered around his mug like the wings of a moth. Minako’s eyes flicked over to him, anxious and hopeful.

She took a deep breath. „It, that was why I cried. The other day. I mean, it wasn’t just because I’m gay, but it had a lot to do with it.“ She swallowed. „I, I just wanted, to tell you. You were really nice to me on that day, and, I don’t know. I guess I kind of felt like I owed you some explanation.“

Asahi bracketed his tea with his underarms and leaned over it. The grassy steam wafting up from the drink soothed him a little.

„You, you don’t owe me anything,“ he said, „I mean… thank you for telling me, but you didn’t have to. And it, I mean, it’s, you…“

Asahi clamped his mouth shut, because he didn’t know what he wanted to say. Except that he knew perfectly well what he wanted to say, it was lodged right there behind his teeth, he could taste the words on his tongue, just waiting to burst out.

„I’m gay, too.“

There they were, spoken into the air in front of him and swirled away by the wind. His heart continued to pound hard, but with a different rhythm now, deep and vivid. It puffed the breath out of his lungs in huffed laughter.

„I, I never said that out loud before,“ he stammered. Then he laughed, because he could. Minako beamed a quiet, but joyful grin.

„You are?“ she asked.

He laughed again. „I, yeah. Yeah, I am.“

Still grinning, Minako raised her coffee mug. „To us, a couple of homos.“

Asahi giggled and clinked his mug against hers. The hot tea bit on the burnt tip of his tongue, but he almost didn’t feel the pain.

Once Minako put down her mug, she leaned towards him conspiratorially. „I didn’t exactly call it, but… I also totally called it.“

Asahi grinned at her. It seemed like his face was incapable of displaying any other expression at the moment. „That I’m gay?“ If he would have known that it felt so nice to say it, he would have done it sooner.

„Yeah,“ she said, „Like, I didn’t really think about it before we met the other day, but, I don’t know. Being around you felt different than being around other Alphas. You didn’t even smell me when we were watching those videos. You didn’t do any inappropriate jokes, either, or tried to touch me.“

„Do a lot of Alphas do that to you?“ he asked slightly horrified.

„Not a lot, but some. Especially when I’m alone with them.“

Asahi had to digest this a little, before he said, „Sounds creepy.“ Minako nodded heavily in confirmation.

„So,“ he continued after taking another sip, „You cried, because you’re gay.“

Minako snorted, then said bitterly, „Yeah, kind of. Actually, I tried to come out to some of my friends, but they didn’t believe me.“

Asahi had no idea what to say to that, so he kept his mouth shut.

Minako sighed. „They’re both on the team, and. I don’t know, I mean I know them inside and out, but I was struggling so much with this. With telling them, telling anyone, you know? And then I _finally_ fucking tell them after practice, and they’re just like- ‚ha ha, you’re so funny Minako-Chan‘. And I’m like ‚no, you don’t get it, I’m really damn gay,‘ and they’re like ‚oh, but you had this huge crush on this Alpha in first year‘, and, like. I only told them that because they wouldn’t fucking stop asking me who I was into, and I didn’t want to say ‚this Omega who’s doing judo‘, like, just- fucking assclowns.“

Asahi looked at her and nodded. He could see that she wasn’t finished, and, sure enough, she burst out, „And my fucking _parents_!“

As it turned out, Minako’s parents were extremely traditional and wanted their daughter to be bonded by the time she finished university. Her older brother was supposed to bond with his childhood friend as soon as that friend finished his studies, and her parents wanted something similar for Minako. Apparently, they were putting a lot of pressure on her to start dating Alphas, urging her to ask out somebody on her team, since she was closest to them. That got Minako going about some of her teammates, particularly one Alpha named Arizu. Asahi twisted his mouth a little at the familiar name. Arizu was a middle blocker on the volleyball team and called herself the ‚virginator‘, claiming that no bitch could keep their legs together when she was around. A real charmer.

Minako was on a roll and continued to vent throughout them finishing off their drinks and walking through the park back to the bus station. Asahi was more than happy just to listen and laugh at her colorful cursing. It was pretty apparent that she needed to let out some steam.

Under the protective canopy of the bus station, they closed their umbrellas. A couple minutes later, lights shone through the pattering rain, their beams reflected on the murky water covering the street. So much of it flooded over the concrete that they had to keep their distance as the bus rolled into the station, and the rainwater whipped up in a flush.

There was nobody on the bus beside the driver. They plonked down next to each other in the back and watched the rain run down the window in arches.

„So,“ Minako said after a while, „That’s everything sucky in my life right now. What’s going on with you?“

Asahi huffed a laugh and looked at his hands for a moment. He wanted to say something like _I’m pretty good, thanks_ , but what came out was, „I’m in love with somebody on my team.“

Minako hummed. „Who?“

Asahi glanced up from his hands at her. In for a penny, in for a pound. „Nishinoya Yuu.“

He smiled joylessly as Minako winced. „The libero? Isn’t he all over your manager?“

„Yeah…“ Asahi confirmed. Distractedly, he fiddled with the loop of his pocket umbrella.

Minako nudged him with her shoulder. „I can tell there’s more, so spill,“ she mumbled, only to rush on, „I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, I just kind of felt like dumping all my shit on you I guess, but it’s totally cool if you don’t feel like it. Also, sorry for dumping all my shit on you.“

Asahi’s chest expanded outwards from the deep breath he took. The thing was he did want to spill. Actually coming out to somebody made him realize just how much he wanted to just talk about what happened, it just… It was just kind of difficult.

„It’s, we…“ he stuttered, stopped. Took another breath. „Noya and me, we. Had sex.“

Asahi pulled so hard on the umbrella’s loop that it dug painfully into his pointer. He only stopped when Minako put her hand over his own.

„And it didn’t go so well?“ she asked quietly.

He sighed. „Yeah, I mean it, it happened during my rut. So afterwards he kind of blamed it on that, and, and hormones and instincts and stuff like that. I think it was more important to him that the team was fine than… anything else, really. He, he said…“ His eyes burnt a little at the memory, but he blinked the sting away. „He said it was meaningless.“

„God,“ Minako exclaimed and squeezed his hand, „Sounds fucking awful.“

Her words dragged a humorless chuckle out of him. „It kind of was,“ he confessed.

„And what did you say?“

Asahi shrugged. „I said okay. That. That he was right, and that it was meaningless.“

„Seriously?“ Minako huffed, „You’re kind of a dumbass, too. I mean Nishinoya is a bit of an asshole for pulling that, but you should have told him how you really felt about it.“

„And ruin the team and our friendship?“

„Didn’t your friendship irreparably change after this already?“

That hit him in the chest so hard that he had to gasp. Minako hissed and squeezed his hand again. „Bullseye, huh?“ she muttered, „I’m sorry.“

„I-It’s okay,“ he said with hitching breath, „It’s the truth, it, it was a mistake.“ Admitting that made his chest ache even harder, because he didn’t _want_ it to be a mistake.

Minako leaned her head on his shoulder. „Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. I just think you should tell him how you feel about it. You don’t have to go all ‚I’ve loved you quietly and fiercely from the shadows‘ on him, but maybe you could tell him that it was sort of a big deal for you. I mean, I guess you were a virgin before that happened?“

Asahi nodded, sniffled away some moisture that had gathered in his nose.

„You could tell him that. Maybe he’ll see that it was more than he thought it was.“

Asahi nodded again, but was already 99% sure he wasn’t going to go through with it. It wasn’t like he didn’t see the need for some talking, more like… what was the point in talking about it if he knew that it would just splinter his heart further?

„Wow,“ Minako whistled, „That was some heavy talking we did for one afternoon.“ She tilted her head back and peered at him over his shoulder. „Maybe we can get together again and talk some more about how sad and gay we are?“

„I’d like that,“ Asahi replied, eyes still a little damp but mouth smiling.

There was some rustling, and then Minako held up her phone. She kept her head cushioned on his shoulder, so he leaned his own a little into it. Asahi couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this open so quickly with anybody. After all this time keeping this stuff fermenting in his brain, it felt pretty good to have somebody to talk to. Asahi blinked at their faces looking back at them through the front-facing camera. He tried a smile. It looked a little thin on the screen.

But then Minako grinned and whispered, „Homo friends for life,“ and then Asahi giggled just as she snapped the picture.

It turned out alright.

The drive to Shinzen High was long, filled with laughter, bad singing and bad jokes. Asahi had a row to himself with only the occasional visit from Daichi and Suga to disturb his peace. The two were planning different strategies based around their new moves, which meant that those plans were bound to be unstable, but Daichi assured him that it was mainly to gauge what they were capable of against the other teams. So Asahi spent most of the ride listening to music and texting Minako.

He frowned at his screen, his stomach filling with unease as he read the signs on it. His fingers flew over the keys.

_Omiai? Right now?  
I thought they wanted to wait until you went to university?_

Minako’s reply came immediately.

_I know!!  
I mean I told them yesterday that I wasn’T sure whether I wanted to go to uni anymore and then we had a fight and then they said if I wasnt going to go to uni I should get an Alpha now  
And then they said it’s such a shame that I didn’t have afucking childhood Alpha friend like Masao that I could bond with like lmfao  
Sucha fucking tragedy that I didn’t have an asshole friend that I could bitch to when I was three  
And then today they told  
,e that they have an appointment with a fucking omiai agency_

Holy shit. Asahi pressed his lips together as he responded the only thing he could think of:

_Fuck_

_!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

He couldn’t help but snort a little at Minako’s message. Then his mouth twisted. Omiai. God, was he ever fucking glad that his mom had never even thought to ask him about dating any Omegas. For Minako, he tried to scratch up some positivity.

_It’s not an arranged marriage. You’re just supposed to get to know these Alphas, the marriage stuff happens when both think it’s a good fit. You can just keep saying no to them._

_Maybe thatsokay for the first five Alphas but I can’t keep saying no for the rest of my fucking life  
They’re gonna pressure me into saying yes at some point_

_Didn’t you want to go to Tokio after graduation? It’s a lot more difficult to control you once you’re out of their reach_

_If by out of their reach you mean movin to fucking Switzerland then yeah_

He grimaced, because she was probably right.

 _Asahi-Kun_ , Minako wrote, _what the fuck do I do_

He sighed and replied honestly,

_I don’t know  
But we’ll figure it out  
Do you want to talk on the phone later?_

In response, she sent him a sticker of two potatoes hugging, which Asahi interpreted as a yes.

Some hours later, they got off in front of Shinzen High tired and sore. The only one that wasn’t the least bit wrung out was, of course, Hinata, who bounded over to Nekoma’s setter as soon as his feet touched the pavement.

Asahi shuffled along with his teammates towards the main building. His thoughts circled around Minako and the omiai. It was really kind of terrible. Why were Minako’s parents so concerned with marrying her off to an Alpha, anyway? Like bonding and popping out children was the only kind of happiness that she could achieve? That was so old-fashioned. Lots of Omegas were happy without being bonded. His mom never bonded with anybody and seemed very content just having a kid and a job. It wasn’t like-

„You okay?“

Asahi narrowly missed tripping over his own feet. His head swung around to look at Noya traipsing along next to him.

„Y-yeah,“ he mumbled. He could feel his face heat. Weird that he hadn’t noticed him at all.

Noya scrutinized him from head to toe. „You sure? You were kind of quiet on the bus. Didn’t even come over to plan our amazing prank with Ryuu.“

Asahi blinked at him. „Did you want me to come over?“ he blurted.

„Yes?“ Noya said, his head rearing back a little. „I mean, you’re totally the master mind of this thing, you’re involved whether you want it or not.“

Asahi recalled how he’d sat quietly next to Noya and Tanaka, petting Oba-San while being pretty much ignored. He hadn’t really felt involved then.

„I’d rather not be. Involved, that is,“ Asahi admitted.

Noya hummed, eyes sweeping over Asahi’s hair. He pointed at the back of his own head, drew a circle into the air with his finger. It was his way of telling Asahi that he needed to fix his bun, which he did immediately.

He looked at Noya with his hair tie clenched between his teeth, his fingers gathering his hair into a half bun. Noya watched his every movement.

„Well, you are involved,“ Noya said quietly, distractedly. He stood pretty close to Asahi. Wait a second, when had they stopped walking?

This close, Noya’s scent gathered around them like smoke. It was pretty strong, thick even. That electric undertone was a faint buzz, but Asahi could still feel it tickling in his nose. It was only a shadow of the scent he’d gorged himself with during his rut, but still so fucking delicious.

„Okay,“ Asahi said, not having the lick of an idea on what he was agreeing to but also not really caring. He just wanted Noya to be closer, wanted to scent him, maybe graze the tip of his nose over his scent gland, the tip of his tongue…

„Hey, slowpokes!“

Suga’s shout was like a bucket of ice water dumped over his head. Asahi whipped his head around to stare at their smiling vice captain. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt like he got caught standing on the chair with his hand buried in the cookie jar.

„Coming!“ he yelled. Tightening the straps of his travel bag, Asahi turned towards Noya and faltered. Noya’s entire face was flushed, his mouth open. He stared at Asahi with an unreadable expression. Was he… okay?

Just when Asahi was about to ask exactly that, Noya yelled, „On our way!“ His heels turned on the gravel so fast they blew up dust. He zipped off like an arrow, leaving Asahi to jog after him in absolute confusion.

The next morning, everything was a little clearer when Asahi woke up pressing his half-hard dick into the futon and choking on Noya’s scent.

Fortunately for him, his teammates were too busy ribbing Noya about going into rut on their first day of training camp to pay attention to Asahi’s problem. He just continued laying on his stomach, waiting for his erection to flag.

Noya pressed his face into his pillow and wailed, „It wasn’t supposed to happen for another week or whatever!“

„That’s some luck, my dude.“ Tanaka’s words sounded sympathetic, but his face was a mask of malicious glee.

„Try to stay positive,“ Daichi said with a smirk, „It will give you the bullishness to go after every ball no matter how impossible to get.“ Good to know that Daichi’s all time advice for anything rut related was to train harder.

„I don’t need to be in fucking rut for _that_ ,“ Noya grumbled.

The team laughed while Asahi tried to calm down. He told himself not to breathe through his nose and did it anyway. His cock had cooled down enough for him to get up, but not lost interest. Noya’s scent literally made his mouth water. During Asahi’s rut, the scent had been so delectable because of his own heightened sense. He’d been able to taste it in his mouth, his tongue, his throat. Caught in his own rut, everything about Noya’s scent was stronger, richer, the faint buzz from the day before fogging up Asahi’s brain like the charged cloud of a storm.

Asahi swallowed down his excess saliva. It was fine, he’d just have to keep his distance from Noya for the next couple of days. They, they had a tough program, lots of matches and. It would be fine.

Silently, Asahi snatched up a small bag containing his toiletries and a towel. He headed for the door, carefully keeping his back straight. On his way out, he came by Hinata cowering on his futon and peering at Noya… anxiously? The strangeness of that look nearly jarred Asahi.

„Hinata-Kun,“ he said softly, watched as Hinata’s eyes flicked first to him, then to his pillow. „Do you want to come wash up before breakfast?“

Hinata blinked. „Uh, yeah, Asahi-San!“ It took him less than five seconds to gather all of his things and kick his futon into something that resembled tidiness.

They walked along the corridor towards the bathrooms. It was still a little early, so there were a few free sinks to choose from. Wordlessly, they selected two in the back. Asahi pulled his shirt over his head, dug a washcloth out of his bag and started to foam up some shower gel. He watched the frothy washcloth slide over his chest in the mirror and asked, „Did you know a lot of Alphas when you were a kid?“ Sounded a little bit too psychoanalytic for a normal morning, but Asahi had a hunch Hinata wouldn’t notice.

And he was right. „No,“ Hinata replied while scrubbing at his face with a tiny towel, „My parents are Betas, and most of their friends are, too. I mostly met Alphas in kindergarten or school.“

Asahi nodded. While it wasn't exactly common that a Beta couple bore an Omega or Alpha child, it wasn't rare, either. But it did explain Hinata's indifference to anything related to their first sex. „You looked a little uncomfortable before,“ he ventured a little further.

"Errrh," was Hinata's response.

Asahi bit his lip. Maybe it was rude to pry? But he also didn't want Hinata to feel unsafe around the Alphas of their team. Shit, it would have probably been smarter to let Suga handle this, or any other person that also _wasn’t_ an Alpha. He looked at Hinata’s wide eyes and furrowed brows. Well, it was too late to back out now.

“How do you feel about Noya being in rut?" he asked, feeling the heat of awkwardness creep up on him.

"I don't like it," Hinata blurted immediately.

Another nod. "Okay, and why?"

Hinata's nose crinkled. "I dunno, I mean, he smells angry. You all do. Basically all the time when you’re… And it makes… It makes me feel weird."

"Weird how?" Discretely, Asahi wiped over his scent gland high up his neck. He was sure that Noya's rut had drawn his scent out during the night, pathetically trying to attract the rutting Alpha.

"Like, like," Hinata stammered, at a loss for words, "Like I should be quiet."

Softly, Asahi suggested, "Like you should obey?"

Hinata shrugged, but his vexed face told a different story.

"It's normal to feel that way," Asahi attempted to explain, "Alphas used to go into rut to attract mates, but also to defend their territory. During that time, the hormones in our blood make us pretty aggressive. Especially Omegas can smell that in our scent, and your instincts are telling you to adapt your behavior to it. But you know what?"

Hinata looked at him wide eyed. "What?"

"That's bullshit." Seeing Hinata's dumbfounded expression made Asahi almost smile. "If an Alpha treats you in a way you don't agree with, tell them. You don't have to do what your instincts tell you to do. Our social lives have changed quite a bit since then. You don't have to act submissive towards an Alpha, and an Alpha doesn't get to order you around. Some people just don't want to understand that."

Hinata nodded as he brushed his teeth slowly. He stared at Asahi as if he'd shed his mortal coil and dematerialized into a ghost. Asahi's eyes flicked back to his own reflection. He grabbed his deodorant and cleared his throat. "But, but that's just how I see it. Some people are happy living according to what their instincts tell them to do. It's not wrong to give in to your instincts, either. Just, I think you should only do that if you feel like it's what you want, too."

"How do I know the difference?"

Asahi glanced at Hinata while his fingers fluttered through the content of his bag.

"The difference between my instincts telling me things and actually wanting them?" Hinata probed further, face full of expectation.

Well, wasn't that a good fucking question. How did he know the difference? "When, when my instincts are in line with what I want, I feel calm. Balanced somehow? I can, I can feel that it's right." Pressed face down into the mat, throat bare, the unshakeable knowledge that this was... "Good."

Eyes fixed on his fidgeting hands, Asahi cleared his throat again. "But that's just me. And anyway, I just wanted to say that you don't have to feel weird around Noya. Or any Alpha in our team that's in rut. When he does something that makes you uncomfortable, just let him know. I'm sure Noya doesn't mean for you to feel bad."

Before he could say anything else stupid or wise-ass, Asahi squirted some toothpaste on his toothbrush and stuck it in his mouth. Hinata struggled back into his shirt next to him. Once his head popped out at the top, he stared at Asahi with that intense look he sometimes got. The look morphed into an enormous grin just before Hinata stepped forward and rubbed his neck against Asahi shoulder. Like usual, Hinata didn’t give him a chance to react, just yelled, „Thanks, Asahi-Senpai!“ and raced towards the door.

Asahi ogled at his retreating form. Should he be flattered that this was like the first time that Hinata had called him senpai? Honestly, he wasn’t sure that this stumbling conversation was senpai material. He passed his hand over his shoulder, smelled his fingertips. Sure enough, a whiff of Hinata’s scent had transferred onto him. It was a little weird though that he’d gone for Asahi’s shoulder. Didn’t people usually rub necks to express companionship? Hinata-

Ah well. His neck was probably a little difficult to reach from that height. Asahi snorted a laugh and continued brushing his teeth.

Back in the storage room doubling as their dormitory, Asahi changed into his practice outfit. He only meant to glance at his phone, but when he saw that he had five unread messages from Minako, he swiped into their chat.

_Good Morning!! hope you’re not too tired after our talk lol  
I couldn’t sleep that well actually, I mean no surprise there but I just kept thinking you said about dating and like  
Would you date me? Like fake date me?  
I mean just in front of my parents we don’t have to do anything like suck each other’s faces off in school!!! Because no offense but ewwh. I just know that they’re not gonna go through with this omiai thing if they know I already have an Alpha, you could just like come over every second week for dinner or something? Maybe also rub your face against my jacket so Arizu fuckings let’s up too  
But then they would also know that we’re dating fucking hell this is already too complicated forget I said anything_

Okay. That’s, that was… Minako, that was…

 _That’s kind of a lot_ , Asahi finally responded.

Minako’s fingers must be flying over the keys with inhuman velocity her words came so fast.

_I know it’s a lot and also it’s stupid just forget about it_

_It’s okay, you don’t have to feel bad_  
I don’t think it’s a dumb idea just  
A lot 

Minako typed and stopped. Typed again, stopped again. Noticing how almost everyone had left the room to get some breakfast, Asahi quickly wrote, _Sorry gotta go to breakfast, we can talk more later. And don’t feel bad!_

They did abysmal in their morning matches. Asahi knew it wasn't him alone that was keeping the team back, but his head wasn't in the game. Instead, it was with the messages on his phone. He couldn't stop mulling over Minako's suggestion all morning.

There was no doubt in his mind that she was right. Her parents would likely cease their harassment and cancel the omiai if she started dating an Alpha. It would take so much pressure from her while keeping her parents happy, at least for a while. And Asahi wanted that, he wanted Minako to be happy, he wanted to support her in living her life the way that she wanted to. How could he say no when he himself had nothing to lose? He wasn't in a relationship. His mom would probably not care who he dated as long as she felt that they treated him right, his friends would doubtlessly tease him, but ultimately feel the same. He'd have to explain the situation to Daichi and swear him to secrecy, but that didn't really pose a problem.

But... it would be a lie. He had no romantic feelings for Minako, and neither did she for him. They would have to lie to their friends and family. Maybe for almost a year.

Behind his back, Noya's voice arched up into the air like the ball bouncing off his wrists. "Chance ball!"

It was dishonest. To himself and to his feelings, no matter how unrequited they might be.

The ball cut a vault straight to Kageyama. Asahi's muscles strained, his vocal chords vibrated roughly from the previous times he'd called for the ball. The tendons in his thighs burned as he leaned down, as he jumped up towards the net. The leather of the ball connected with his palm, and he smacked it hard against the opposing team's block. It cannoned against their arms, through their defense.

His legs tensed to absorb the shock from landing back on the linoleum. Asahi smiled. They'd had no chance to block that one.

In seconds, Noya threw himself onto Asahi with his sweat and his skin and his hair and his heartstoppingly delicious scent that was going to drive him fucking insane while Asahi just stood there, body twitching and hands itching to touch and press and squeeze until Noya touched him back and stained Asahi with his hand and lip and finger prints.

It was not humanly possible for Asahi to become even more flushed, but Noya seemed to push him beyond his physical and emotional limits constantly.

He coughed a laugh while Noya engaged in some light trash talking. Fortunately, the other team didn't really listen. After some prompting from Asahi himself and Suga, Noya finally relinquished his hold on him. He jogged back to his position, but not before clawing his hands into Asahi's limegreen tricot and jerking him down towards him. "Nice hit, but stop being so distracted," he ordered. Noya's scent crackled through his blood as if it was a high voltage network, but his voice struck him like fucking lightning. He almost gnawed off his tongue to keep himself from exposing his throat and mewling for Noya's affection.

It was the most vicious of cycles. The more attention Noya gave him, the more of his nerves were shot to hell, the more Noya lugged him around telling him to get his shit together.

"Come on," Noya growled when the ball slipped through Asahi's shaking hands as he picked it up. Noya stood up on his tip toes, his face and his eyes and his lips filling up every corner of Asahi's vision. It was impossible to look away, but Asahi didn’t even want to. The sweat from practice concentrated Noya’s scent to the point where it was unbearable. Coupled with Noya’s piercing eyes, it was enough to make Asahi weak in the knees. „Concentrate already,“ Noya reprimanded him, and Asahi almost whimpered.

„Noya, hey,“ Tanaka interjected, his hands raised, „Don’t beat Asahi-San up like that, we’re all-“

„Don’t fucking tell me what to do!“ Noya snarled. His jaw snapped shut with an audible click. Tanaka stared at him, didn’t move a muscle. From his front row seat Asahi watched Noya’s head flush an angry red in embarrassment.

„Sorry, I’m sorry,“ he said to Tanaka, „I shouldn’t have yelled.“ He tilted his face up to Asahi again, eyes fixed on his nose. „You, you, too. I’m sorry.“

Asahi felt his lips stretch into a wobbly smile. „No harm done,“ he rasped.

Noya’s eyes darted over his face. He didn’t mirror Asahi’s smile, but instead wrapped his hand around Asahi’s wrist and squeezed. The pressure passed through his arm right down to his buckling knees. The only thing keeping him upright was the promise of the instant social suicide he would curse himself with if he fell to his knees in front of Noya.

For the rest of the game, Noya refrained from jumping or rebuking Asahi. It was a devastating relief.

The whistle rang their defeat over the court, and Asahi walked outside with the rest of his team. They struggled up the hill so many times that he lost count. Back at the foot, Yachi handed him a water bottle with a sympathetic look. Asahi thanked her, gulped down the water as if it was the last he would receive that day. Lips wrapped around the orifice, his eyes darted to Noya. He was watching Asahi. As soon as their gazes met, Noya plastered on a grin that was much too wide. Asahi lowered his bottle and gave him a shaky smile back.

He turned to whoever was standing next to him, which happened to be Suga. "I'll get some more water," he announced. The concern on Suga's face shone at him like a neon-sign. Asahi felt immediately bad for worrying him so much, but not enough to keep himself from spinning on his heel and walking off.

He had no clue where the sinks in this school were, so he just walked. He, he kind of needed that, just some time away. From the team, from Noya and his scent and this weird awkwardness between them. From his own weakness, from his lack of control over his body and his feelings. It was only a matter of time until he fucked up. The only hope Asahi had was that it would happen somewhere private, like, like the showers. Maybe he'd irritate Noya again, make him growl at Asahi and smell like a gathering thunderstorm until the sheer force of his presence would force him to his knees.

He was so distracted by his terrifying and arousing fantasy that he yelled in surprise when a body crashed into him. The force of the collision pushed Asahi backwards, but he caught himself before he fell on his ass. Unlike the other boy, who hit the ground with a painful gasp.

Quickly, Asahi knelt next to the boy, embarrassment consuming him like fire. God, he'd been too busy having borderline sexual fantasies about his teammate to pay attention to where he was going. How much more pathetic could he _get_?

"I, I'm sorry," he stammered as he seized the guy by the arm and pulled him up, "I didn't watch where I was going, but, uh, I guess you noticed that, are, are you okay?"

Asahi stared at the boy who in turn stared at his own feet. His face didn't seem familiar, probably nobody they had played yet, and he couldn't recall the school name attached to his tricot.

Why wasn't he saying anything? "Are you hurt?" Asahi asked when the guy didn't respond. His smell reached Asahi in a nervous outpour, and Asahi winced. He yanked his hand from the Omega's arm, took a couple steps back. That seemed to help.

"I'm fine," the boy blurted before turning tail and running off. Confused and mortified, Asahi watched his retreat to another guy, likely somebody on his team judging by the tricot he was wearing. They talked in hisses, the Omega tugging the other one away by his hand while he glared daggers at Asahi.

Once they rounded a gym corner, Asahi buried his face in his hands. This was shaping up to be one fine day for him.

He didn't exactly know how, but Asahi survived the afternoon matches by the skin of his teeth. There had been minimal reprimands from Noya, only the occasional "come on" or "don't be so distracted". Unfortunately, it was fucking impossible not to be distracted while Noya's scent spread over the field like a rain cloud. Arousal and fear licked at his heels constantly, threatening to engulf his thoughts. The concerned faces of his teammates caused guilt to pool in the pit of his stomach. They probably wouldn't feel so sympathetic towards him if they knew how much he was panting for Noya's attention.

Asahi watched as the ball hit Daichi's underarm and bounced off. Their opponents cheered, a whistle blew, and they had lost. He tried to be disappointed, but only felt relief coursing through him. Ukai gathered them for a short debrief, although Asahi was sure that he was saving parts of his criticism for tomorrow when the team was hopefully less scattered. Afterwards, Daichi herded them out of the gym and up the hill. It was nothing short of torturous. The July sun beat down on them from all sides, grilling them from the inside. Asahi's legs had the consistency of overcooked pasta by the time they reached the gym again. He slumped against the wall and grabbed into the general direction of his water bottle. The liquid felt cold in his mouth, so he squirted some on his face as well. There was no sound except the heavy gulps and breaths of his teammates.

Much too soon, Daichi asked, „So who’s ready for some after-match training?“

„I am!“ Hinata shouted. He took a huge swig from his bottle before running back into the gym. Kageyama trailed after him, pretending that he just happened to go in for some training as well. Things were still kind of weird between them. Hopefully, they would figure their stuff out.

Hands clutched at his shoulders and shoved him forward. „Our Ace should definitely practice some more of those jump serves,“ Daichi suggested with an iron grip on his back, „I don’t know if you noticed, but they were scoring once in a blue moon.“

Asahi groaned, and let himself be pushed back into the gym. He felt kind of conflicted. On the one hand, he would actually like to have a chance to practice more. On the other hand… As if pulled by a magnet, his eyes locked onto Noya’s athletic form rushing back into the hall.

On the other hand, he would probably implode if he was exposed to Noya’s rut scent much longer. 

The water on his face dripped down from the tip of his nose. Hastily, Asahi jogged back to the benches lining the side of the gym. He picked up his towel. No reason to add to the gross mixture of fluids drying all over the gym floor.

Asahi buried his face in the fabric, ran the ends of it over his neck. He breathed in, and it hit him like a fist to the face. He stopped breathing immediately, but the damage was already done, the scent so rich and fresh and downright intoxicating that Asahi was helpless against it. He kept his face buried in the towel as his body shivered from head to toe, as the molecules of Noya’s scent ignited his body, as he clenched his jaw so hard he nearly broke a tooth to keep himself from whimpering.

There was a craving, low and absolute and disgusting, but Asahi wanted to give in to it so badly. So he did, tongue flicking out and dragging roughly against the towel soaked in Noya’s sweat. Salt and metal and bottled lightning prickled in his mouth. The taste brought a flush of heat with it, rushing through his head and down his torso, into the tips of his fingers and the soles of his feet. 

His hands shook like branches caught in the wind as he lowered the towel. He was well on his way of getting completely hard, but he just felt so good, wrapped in a bubble of Noya’s scent and taste. Close to panting, he turned his head. Noya stood only a few meters away from him, Asahi’s towel pressed against his neck. His eyes were wide when they locked with his own.

Asahi stumbled forward. Control slipped from him with every step. The linoleum under his feet seemed to melt, but that wasn’t Asahi’s concern. He, he just needed to be closer.

When the tips of his sneaker’s almost touched Noya’s, he stopped walking. Noya’s eyes burnt him. He fought the urge to lower his own in submission, but couldn’t even remember why he resisted.

„I, so, sorry,“ Asahi croaked and held out Noya’s towel with trembling fingers.

From deep within his chest, Noya growled. Asahi dropped his gaze instantly, unable to suppress a gasp. He felt pinned to the floor again, squirming under Noya in pleasure as he licked his gland and growled at him to stay still.

He had to go, now, right now, he had to _leave_.

The towel fell from his hands to the floor. Noya didn’t move to pick it up, didn’t even look at it. He just kept flaying him open with his eyes until Asahi couldn’t take it anymore. He bowed, unsure why, limbs trembling, and fled.

On his way out, he heard Tanaka’s hissed „Bro, what the _fuck_ -“, but was too preoccupied with running away to hear the rest. His hard dick pulsed in his pants, the blood pounding through it. He pressed the tip of his tongue against his hard palate. It was gross, but he couldn’t resist to suck on it hard, chasing the taste of Noya’s sweat. A sound tore free from his throat, unidentifiable and desperate and primal.

It, it would be okay, everything would be okay, he just needed some distance, yes, some distance to fucking get his shit together and then, and then it would be okay, he would just-

There was a sharp jab in his stomach and a dull pain on his side. Out of surprise more than anything else, Asahi growled, hands shooting out to grab a fistful of a damp shirt. He raised the struggling boy upright, thrown off balance from running into Asahi. His eyes flicked over him. That same tricot, same sweaty curls, same terrified expression. The Omega from before, but white as a sheet and refusing to meet Asahi’s gaze. His too sweet scent shot out into the air around him. Was, was he about to go into _heat_?

Asahi dropped his shirt like it was scalding him. „Sorry, I,“ he stammered, still reeling from whatever the fuck was going on right now, „You, are you-“

He didn’t get any further than that, because somebody shoved him so hard he fell like a tree. He even slid a little over the pavement, his thigh scraping over tiny bits of gravel.

The Omega’s teammate stood before him, fists clenched and glaring. „What the fuck do you want?!“ he barked at Asahi.

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Shock and pain had robbed him of his voice. He just stared up at the teammate, an Alpha, because why else would he get so protective, the scent of his anger burning up the atmosphere. 

Asahi scrambled to get his feet under him, but the Alpha was on him in a second, standing over him and blocking out the sun. „I don’t know what your deal is, but you stay the fuck away from him, okay?! Try to cram your tiny dick into some other dripping cunt, fucking mongrel!“

Asahi watched a hand descend on him, frozen in place.

And then the hand was wrenched back as somebody barreled into the guy at full speed. His scent was overpowering and _strong_ , and it was Noya, of course, there was no way that Asahi could ever not recognize that smell, stumbling to catch himself so he didn’t take a dive like the Alpha had. He stood in front of Asahi like a pillar carved out of marble. His shirt was drenched from practice, stretched around his heaving shoulders. The kanji on its back stood out in sharp black. _To cut into two with one sword._

„Get the fuck away from him, asshole.“ His voice was level, but with an underlying snarl. The scent wafting from him was so sharp that he feared it could electrocute him on the spot. It had Asahi bite his lip, his legs spread, his body leaning towards Noya like a sunflower to the sun.

The teammate huffed. „Bunch of fucking pansies, gonna get your asses kicked.“ Asahi watched with his heart in his mouth as he aimed his punch, but Noya slid out from its trajectory. He rammed into the guy’s middle, caught him off balance and toppled him right back on his ass again. Asahi almost smiled. It was the same move he’d used when wrestling with him.

The Alpha picked himself up. He rumbled in his chest, but it was drowned out by Noya’s stomach-deep growl. The guy faltered, stepped from side to side. When his eyes landed on Asahi again, he scoffed, „Didn’t realize you were a giant bitch.“

Before Noya could respond, the Omega padded forward. „We, we’re sorry, he’s sorry, we’ll go, just, we’ll, we’ll go, okay.“

He grabbed his teammate’s arm, eyes glued to the floor. The Alpha made a half-hearted attempt to dig his feet in, but let himself be dragged backwards. „Don’t fucking try anything again,“ he threatened. It lost a little of its bite, though, when his eyes couldn’t lift higher than Noya’s collarbone.

They watched as the Omega pulled his teammate away with a hasty bow. Only when they rounded the corner to the second gym did Noya turn around.

He took a few steps until he stood in front of Asahi. With his body framed against the sun and his sweat glistening on his muscles, he could have been the subject of a samurai painting.

Noya’s hand stretched out, but Asahi didn’t really see it. He just looked up into Noya’s eyes, so sharp they almost stung him. His hand fell into Noya’s without a conscious thought, and then his face rushed closer and further away again, down towards the ground, but that’s not what it felt like, and maybe it shouldn’t even be like this, maybe Asahi should be kneeling instead and looking up.

Noya held his hand fast between them. They looked at each other, chests grazing with every breath. The stab of anger had left Noya’s scent, but it was still so strong and rich it streaked across Asahi’s skin from the inside. The sun cast Noya’s features in hues of gold and tangerine. His eyes lit up in a glow all their own.

Noya raised his chin in a gesture unknown to Asahi’s mind, but familiar to his bones and blood. He tilted his head back and to the side, lowered his eyes to the ground.

The submission made his body _sing_.

Noya groaned low in response, pleased, and didn’t waste a second to relocate his grip to Asahi’s wrist and squeeze. His free hand ran over his sweat-soaked throat up to his ear. He brushed Asahi’s damp curls to the side, raised himself on his tip toes to nose at his exposed scent gland. Asahi moaned, almost too quiet to hear. He leant into Noya’s touch. He wanted to be held more, harder, for Noya to mark his body and declare his ownership.

Noya slid his hand from his neck up into his hair, buried it deep and guided Asahi’s head further to the side. His eyes flicked up and landed on a shed at the edge of the school grounds. He’d passed it before, pretending to look for the sinks. When his feet started walking with his eyes fixed on their destination, he didn’t even question it. Noya grumbled, but kept his grip tight on Asahi’s wrist.

They stumbled rather than walked over the path between the gyms, over a patch of lawn to the shed. Noya didn’t say anything, just followed Asahi as he led them to the side of the shed and behind it. The grass grew wild and tall behind the wooden structure, framed by the school fence and shaded by the shed’s roof. Behind the fence, a small forest stretched out, abuzz with the clitters of cicadas.

It was as good a place as any for Asahi to fall to his knees.

He used Noya’s iron grip on his wrist to pull him forward and bury his face in Noya’s crotch. A strangled gasp escaped him, muffled against Noya’s shorts. His dick was so fucking hard, just like Asahi’s own. He rubbed his cheek against it, thought he could feel the slight swell of a knot against his jaw bone. He tugged his nose right to the base of it, where the smell of sweat and Alpha was so strong it made Asahi’s head spin. His eyes blinked up as he titled his head, dragged his open mouth over Noya’s clothed cock in adoration.

He stared up at Noya, who watched him with the tip of his tongue resting on his bottom lip. Asahi wanted to whine and beg, make Noya see how good he could be, how he wanted to reward him so badly, how he should do everything he wanted to Asahi because he’d earned it, because he'd fought for him, fought another _Alpha_ , because it was true and good.

Noya crouched down in front of Asahi, feet bracketing his hips and thighs spreading as he lowered himself. His mouth widened slightly. Because he was _flehming_ , just like last time. Wanting to smell and taste Asahi, as much of him as he could. Asahi’s breath hitched, then left him in a gasp.

Noya shivered as he wrapped his arms around Asahi tightly, one hand buried again in his hair and the other in Asahi’s practice shirt. His fat cock rubbed against Asahi’s stomach, oh, _twitched_ as Noya ground his hips into him. The hand fisted in his hair pulled his head back, and he went with it, head lolling back like a doll’s.

Everything, anything Noya wanted to.

He pressed his tongue against the hollow of Asahi’s collarbone and licked a wet stripe over his exposed throat right up to his earlobe. He took Asahi’s submission, claimed it completely. Caught between Noya’s throbbing prick and his hot tongue, Asahi whimpered.

Noya’s breath ghosted over his scent gland. Asahi wasn’t sure why, but he clenched his teeth.

Noya bit into it savagely, sinking his teeth into the soft flesh and sucking hard. Instead of the yell that wanted to escape Asahi, only a keening sound broke free from his mouth. It hurt, it fucking hurt, but then Noya removed his teeth and it was only a burn in his neck, licking through his body like flames, setting it alight with the certainty that he was owned. That he was Noya’s. It sweetened the pain until he couldn’t even feel it anymore. Noya’s knot bulged against his stomach, and Asahi moaned shakily in satisfaction. It felt so good to please him.

His heavy breath puffed over Asahi’s wet skin as Noya’s tongue traced the indentation of his teeth. Maybe Asahi was bleeding, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care when Noya had staked his claim so obviously, so utterly feral. He was burning hot, his limbs smoldering like embers. Entirely of its own accord, his neck rolled forward and buried his nose in Noya’s throat. His tongued flicked out, gathering Noya’s sweat on its tip where it mixed with Noya’s scent to create a flavor that went straight to his dick. He shifted his weight, which proved already enough to tip them sideways. Noya hit the shed with his shoulders, then slumped against it.

With Noya’s mouth still latched on his skin, Asahi fell into his lap. His scent gland throbbed. It felt good, everything felt fantastic, but this, this wasn’t it, this wasn’t enough. He needed to prove to Noya that he was good, needed to reward him for being strong and brave. An Alpha that was worth submitting to.

So Asahi shook his head, felt Noya scrape his teeth and growl against his skin. Shuddering at the sound, he made sure to bare his throat as he moved back. Noya’s hand tugged on his hair possessively, his eyes following every one of Asahi’s movements. He panted from having Noya’s undivided attention as much as he did from his touches.

His chin almost brushed the grass once he was on eye level with Noya’s erection again. Asahi pressed his face against it, bit his lip when he felt it throb against his cheek. He looked up at Noya, praying that he could see how good he wanted to be for him. Noya returned his look. Open-mouthed, nostrils flaring. Still chasing Asahi’s scent in the air. Waiting.

He was almost pressed flat to the ground when he pulled Noya’s shorts and underwear down, just enough to expose the tip of his cock. It was red and bulging, pre-cum leaking out of the tip and over the foreskin and glistening with sweat and Asahi wanted it to touch him fucking everywhere, for Noya to trace his dick over every inch of Asahi’s body so not one place was left unclaimed. He put his face so close that a bit of pre-cum smudged on the tip of his nose. The smell of Noya’s arousal was so appealing and, and _ripe_ , urging Asahi to touch and lick and worship. And Asahi was desperate to please.

Swiftly, he pulled Noya’s pants down, followed every patch of skin he revealed with his nose. Fully bare and up close, Noya’s cock was huge. Even with both hands wrapped around it, he was pretty sure the head would stay uncovered. Asahi couldn’t help but spread his legs, his own prick weeping in his pants. He was so incredibly eager to stuff his face with it. Tugging his nose right at Noya’s knot, he scented him deeply. It was so intoxicating that he couldn’t resist lapping at it. With a groan, Noya’s hips twitched upward while his hand tugged Asahi’s face right against his dick, oh _fuck_ , he whined with his nose mashed against bulging flesh, grabbed his own cock practically bursting through his shorts.

Noya moaned, bent so close over Asahi that his forehead touched the wet shirt clinging to his back. Asahi had to shuffle back to accommodate the movement, face still pressed tightly against Noya’s knot. He ran his mouth up to the crown. His lips wrapped around the head, his free hand around the knot. He sucked on it, tugged on the knot and was rewarded with a burst of pre-cum. It was hot, scorching hot in his mouth, and Asahi was so ready to burn.

He gasped around Noya’s cock in his mouth as he crammed it further down his throat. It stretched his lips so wide it almost hurt. Noya moaned into Asahi’s shirt, bit into it. Asahi didn’t stop, took him deeper, squeezed him tighter until Noya tugged so hard on his hair that he almost ripped it out. His dick bumped against Asahi’s soft palate, and he suppressed a gag, but it still wasn’t far enough. Noya needed to be deeper, stuffed into spaces that Asahi didn’t know he had but wanted Noya to possess. So he swallowed his pulsing cock further, tasting pre-cum and flesh and sweat and panting through his nose.

Noya touched something, something deep in his throat. Asahi had no idea what it was, but he knew that was as far as he could take Noya, and he wanted to cry because that couldn’t be all, he needed to be better than that. There was still so much cock to go, Noya deserved _more_ than this. So he pushed a little further, just a little bit. Instantly, his throat seized up. Asahi wanted to growl in frustration, pressed down on Noya’s knot. He noticed how hard it was in his hand, how big and swollen, ready to knot right into his palm. How Noya dragged his teeth over him through his shirt, drooling into it while he shook with each one of Asahi’s movements. How every breath he took was a low groan rumbling through his chest and unto Asahi’s skin.

Asahi was pleasing him, he was pleasing Noya. Something in him gave loose with the knowledge, and he moaned with it, muffled against Noya’s prick.

Just as he withdrew, Noya yanked on Asahi’s shirt with his teeth and jammed his hand into Asahi’s pants. Asahi flinched so hard that he ended up sliding down Noya’s cock again, and then he just didn’t stop, because why would he even stop sucking on Noya’s fat cock, it was everything he wanted to do, just feel him stuff Asahi as far as he could and then take him out only to slip him back in again. Noya wrapped his fist around Asahi’s own dick, and then they both just shuddered and squeezed each other. Asahi slid his hand over Noya’s knot, tugged the bulge through his fist so much that it had Noya shove his hips forward with a desperate moan. Asahi whined, from the dick thrusting down his throat as much as from Noya’s hand rubbing against his shaft. His palm was wet from Asahi’s own pre-cum and felt fucking incredible against his skin, fingers so soft and firm.

He started grinding his cock against Noya’s hand, jerked both of their knots to the same rhythm that they both gasped. Noya bit and tore and rubbed his cheek against Asahi’s shirt until his back was exposed, lapped up the sweat on his skin before burying his teeth in it, and Asahi whimpered, shoved his mouth down on Noya’s cock and his own prick into Noya’s hand.

He could feel it, Noya was so close, bulge so hard in his fist and cock weeping pre-cum down his throat, so he sucked hard on the crown and squeezed the knot, Noya’s hips stuttered against his face as he muffled his hoarse groans against his sweat-slick back and then Asahi’s mouth filled with cum, Noya’s cock spurting so strong that Asahi almost choked on his spunk shooting down his gullet, but he hastily swallowed as much as he could and then came the next one, and the next. There was so incredibly much of it, warm and bitter cum in an endless stream squirting into every corner of his mouth, but Asahi swallowed every drop Noya gave him, he’d be so good to him, he _was_ so good to him, pleasing him so well with his mouth and his hand, making him thrash and gnaw and moan, his hand spasm on Asahi’s dick. The flow of cum ebbed a little, which was wrong, they weren’t done yet, so Asahi jerked Noya’s fat cock roughly and Noya tensed, growled and shuddered as his dick twitched desperately in Asahi’s mouth and blew another load, Asahi whined, it felt so good to take it all, he rubbed his own knot and oh, _oh_ fuck, Asahi flinched and moaned because he was just right there, heat blooming along his skin while his dick pulsed and burst his cum into Noya’s palm, smeared it against the wetness dripping from his hand as Asahi’s body trembled and didn’t stop trembling, he mewled around Noya’s cock stuffing him to the brim and couldn’t keep it together, choked on Noya’s cum and had to pull back, the head now jerking and gushing on his tongue while he struggled to gulp it all down, but it was too much, he was still choking and Noya’s dick was just spurting so much cum and Asahi panted and drooled while it leaked out of the corners of his mouth, spilled over his bottom lip and ran down his chin and dribbled down his throat, it was sloppy and filthy, and Asahi was devastated but also so fucking turned on by Noya’s cum making a mess of his face. He squeezed his own knot to the point of popping and made a wet sound with his mouth when Noya gripped his dick, and that’s really all it took to make him shoot off into his hand again, moaning with Noya’s cum sloshing in his mouth.

Asahi breathed and gasped, pulled on Noya’s knot and stroked his frenulum with his tongue until he felt raw with it, open and used with spunk running out of his mouth in rivulets, staining his shirt and dripping onto blades of grass. Noya shook like a leaf, pulled his hand out of Asahi’s pants when his dick started to soften. Asahi did the same, but only so it could join his other hand wrapped Noya’s bulge. He pressed down on it with his thumbs, jerked it until Noya’s teeth almost drew blood on his back, and Asahi was rewarded with another load of cum. Feeling it pulse out of Noya’s dick was the sweetest kind of praise, and he bathed in the warm fulfillment it brought him as he swallowed as much as he could and let the rest stream over his lips.

Pressed against his bare back, Asahi felt Noya work his jaw, his Adam’s apple bob. Like he was gulping something down. He didn’t think much of it until he felt Noya’s hand claw into his skin and noticed that it was only slightly damp, although Asahi had cum all over it mere minutes ago. He almost smiled around Noya’s dick, then, the warm feeling racing up into the tips of his fingers. It was only right that they would both taste and eat each other, after all.

Slowly, Noya’s knot deflated in his hands. His cock still twitched and spasmed with Asahi’s mouth sliding over the head until Noya started to tug on his hair. With one final drag of his tongue, Asahi slipped Noya’s prick out of his mouth. It was starting to grow limp and Asahi couldn’t resist kissing it before carefully dabbing at it with his shirt. Since Noya’s dick was soaking wet with spit and cum, he actually didn’t do such a good job of it. So Asahi stopped, looked at it curling in his hand. Without thinking too much about it, he pressed his cheek against the softening cock and wrapped his arms around Noya’s upper body. It was an awkward position to be in while kneeling in the grass, but he honestly didn’t care. He just wanted to be pressed tight against each other, to acknowledge in some way what they had just shared.

Noya scratched lazily at his back, rubbed his cheek against it like a cat. Asahi smiled.

After one last nip, Noya leant back against the shed. His breathing had slowed, his muscles unwound. Asahi took this as his cue to part form Noya’s genitals, which he did reluctantly. Noya had gone completely limp in his hand. Slowly, he tugged him back into Noya’s damp underwear and pulled up his practice shorts. Asahi shifted his knees and straightened from his position, blushed when a gust of wind made him realize how drenched his face and throat was. Coated in cum and spit. The thought made him feel fuzzy with contentment, something like pride bubbling in the pit of his stomach like warm stew. He wiped his throat with the collar of his shirt, his face with the bottom. Once he was as clean as he could get, Asahi leant forward. His upper body molded itself against Noya’s. Despite what they had done only minutes ago, Asahi’s heart was racing. This _could_ be too much, right? Too much, too much… closeness, something. Maybe Noya would prefer to have more space?

But when Asahi wrapped Noya up again in a timid embrace, he felt Noya’s arms settle around him, his hands brush over his shoulder blades. His forehead sink down on Asahi’s neck. Asahi’s heart was beating so forcefully that it made him numb to Noya’s own pressed against his chest. Maybe Noya’s heart was just tapping gently, or maybe it was thundering along with Asahi’s. He kind of hoped it was the latter and wasn’t sure why.

The cicadas chirped in the underbrush behind them. Blades of grass swayed in the light breeze, skimmed against Asahi’s naked legs. It tickled a little, but Asahi didn’t want to move. Under the shade behind the rickety shed, the silence enveloping them felt fragile, like it might shatter at any moment. 

As he turned his head, Asahi’s lips grazed Noya’s hair, then his temple. His heart sent the blood rushing through his veins, through his ears. He lowered his chin while Noya raised his own. The tip of his nose brushed over Noya’s cheek and came to rest against his nostril. Asahi’s breath flowed heavily out of his nose and was much too loud, but he was helpless to stop it. From this point, he couldn’t see Noya’s lips, but the shape of them was ingrained in his memory. Asahi pictured them. Thin, with a little pout at the bottom. Dusty red and open. Inviting.

Asahi leant slightly down, a little forward. His lips touched nothing but summer air as Noya turned his head away.

The cicadas chirped. Asahi didn’t move, didn’t do anything. Noya’s hands dropped from his shoulders. Asahi shivered, and his lips followed Noya’s, hopeful, disbelieving. Noya pulled his chin down, and his head knocked against the wood of the shed with the force of it.

That was as clear a sign as any. Asahi leant back. The grass under his knees rustled with his movement. The pace of his heart changed, racing in his ribcage. He looked at Noya. An angry flush clung to his face, cresting in his cheeks. His jaw was locked together so tightly that Asahi could almost feel it in his own. Noya didn’t meet Asahi’s eyes, but he didn’t even need to for Asahi to read his expression. It was smeared with shame.

Something twisted in Asahi. Slow at first, but then deeper, harder as the realization sank in. It writhed in his stomach, convulsed like a dying fish.

He jerked his arms away from Noya. The shame stayed glowing in his cheeks, in the hard curve of his eyes. A lump grew in Asahi’s throat, tumesced to a point where all his words clogged against it. His mouth shaped around syllables that never left it.

Noya didn’t speak. He just sat there, ashamed, unable to look him in the face.

 _Fuck you_ , Asahi thought because the words wouldn’t spit from his mouth, _Fuck you_.

He pushed himself back, then up. His jaw hurt from how hard he was clenching this teeth, and he wanted to stop, but couldn’t. His hands shook so he dug them into his shorts. Asahi looked down at Noya, the top of his head, his hunched shoulders. Even the tips of his ears blushed with shame.

The fish slipped into his innards and squirmed.

Jammed words scraped against the lump in his throat, but Asahi left before any of them could spill out. 

His sneakers rustled on the lawn, drummed on the concrete like rain. Noya didn’t deserve those words. He didn’t, had, had _never_ fucking deserved anything from Asahi, not his touch or, or his affection, his stupid fucking infatuation that made everything so much easier for Noya, paved the way for everything he wanted to do or apparently _didn’t_ want to do if he was so fucking ashamed of it afterwards, so utterly mortified to have his fucking dick sucked by Asahi, like he’d forced him to sit down and stick his cock in Asahi’s mouth, like, like he’d forced Noya to bite him so, so-

In front of the entrance, he toed of his sneakers. His movements were agitated and his fucking shoes slipped against each other, so he just kicked them off. He sped along the corridor, keenly aware of his wet boxers and training shorts. Why, why had Noya even touched him if he thought that gay sex was so fucking disgraceful, he’d even licked Asahi’s cum from his fingers. The lump suddenly returned, pressed against his larynx because maybe Noya was okay with the act, but was just embarrassed about doing it with Asahi, with a big lug of an Alpha that could be brought to his knees with just the tiniest show of dominance and solidarity, desperate to submit. Good enough to suck him off, but not enough to kiss.

His eyes burnt, but he blinked it away.

Asahi yanked the door to their temporary dorm open. It crashed in its rail, but Asahi didn’t give a shit and just slammed it back closed behind him. He went to his traveling bag and ripped the zipper open. He grabbed some stuff, didn’t really pay attention what, he just wanted to be clean fast, wanted to get all of this off of him. As he jerked to the side to wrench out his laundry bag, he felt something slosh in his stomach. He blushed, bit his lip hard, hated himself for liking that he could feel Noya’s cum moving in him. There had been so much of it.

Asahi’s face started to scrunch up so he stopped thinking. His phone had tumbled out along with his laundry bag. Asahi stared at it, then picked it up. The shaking had worsened, but not bad enough to make thumbing into his contacts difficult. He pressed the phone against his ear and struggled out of his soaked shorts.

Minako picked up on the first ring. „Hey, Asahi-Kun!“

„Let’s fake date,“ he blurted.

A small pause. „I, what?“ Another pause. „Asahi-Kun, it’s fine. It was a bit of a shit idea, anyway, I should-“

„I mean it. Let’s fake date, it’s not a problem, because I don’t care, I don’t _fucking_ care, nobody cares, so I, I’m not going to give a flying fuck about it, either.“

His breathing went from heavy to hitching while he spoke. He chucked his filthy underwear into his laundry bag, sat with his naked butt on the tatami mats and felt like an idiot.

„Asahi-Kun,“ Minako said, voice low with apprehension, „Did something happen?“

„No,“ Asahi replied, even though his voice was already cracking, „Nothing happened, b-because even if something does happen we’re just going to fucking pretend like it didn’t, so nothing happened.“

He tried to pull a fresh pair of underwear over his feet, but didn’t manage to get the fabric over his heels with one hand. It was so ridiculous he had to laugh. He stopped when an inadvertent sob escaped.

Minako’s voice shook a little as she said, „Oh fuck, okay, what, where are you right now?“

Asahi had to swallow a couple of times before he could answer. „Our dorm.“

„Okay, are you alone?“

He honestly wanted to answer, but he knew if he did he’d start crying. The only thing that came out was a kind of smothered whimper.

„Oh shit, Asahi.“ The sheer sympathy in Minako’s voice was a crumb of comfort. „Shit, I. It’s going to be okay. What do you need right now?“

Asahi sucked in a deep breath before stammering, „New clothes. M-maybe a shower.“

„Okay, alright, get those clothes and go to the bathroom. Do you want me to stay on the phone?“

„Yes,“ he whined pathetically, felt sorry for huffing into the mic while he tugged his underwear over his knees, then some new training shorts. The shirt he left on for now, but rummaged around in his bag for a fresh one. 

After a few seconds of just breathing with his phone pushed to his ear, Minako asked, „You got your stuff?“

Asahi wanted to confirm, but instead mumbled, „Noya’s in rut.“

A beat. „Okay. Was he a bitch to you?“

Asahi’s mouth twisted. „No, I, I mean yes, actually, but it wasn’t so bad. But, but then there was this Alpha threatening me, and Noya stood up for me, and. I don’t know.“ He had to gulp down some air. „I. I just wanted to be with him, I, he-“

Asahi set the phone down and pressed a hand over his mouth. It was bad enough that Minako knew how pitiful he was, she didn’t need to listen to him cry, too. He knelt on the floor, clutching his phone to his chest, as a few tears slipped from his eyes.

A quiet „oh, Asahi“ echoed from the speaker. He put the phone back to his ear. „What happened after? Did he tell you the same shit like last time?“ she asked.

„Nothing happened,“ Asahi replied, clawed his fingers into his meagre belongings, „He, he didn’t say anything, I tried, I tried to kiss him, and he turned away…“ A shrill laugh squeezed out of him at the memory. „You should have seen his face, he looked absolutely disgusted, h-he couldn’t even fucking look at me, I, I mean what is so fucking wrong with me that your face looks like that, just-“

He cut himself off again, but didn’t remove his phone as he swallowed all the hurt the came barfing up.

Minako took a deep breath on the other end of the line. „Oh my God, Asahi, I-I’m so sorry, just… just concentrate on what you’re doing, okay? Are you on your way to the showers?“

„No,“ he muttered and stood up on trembling legs.

„Okay, go to the showers. Dry your face before you leave the dorm.“

He scrubbed his towel over his face before opening the door. „Is anybody there?“ Minako asked.

„No, they’re still all out practicing. After matches.“

Minako snorted, „I swear there’s something wrong with you guys, nobody can be that obsessed with volleyball.“

Asahi’s laugh was thin, but it still felt nice. True to his word, he made it to the restroom without running into anybody. When he plunked down his stuff next to the sink, he announced, „I’m in the bathroom.“

„Didn’t you want to go have a shower?“

Asahi pressed his lips together, pulled his shirt over his head. „I actually didn’t want to stop talking to you.“

Minako’s voice was soft. „Okay, big guy.“ Then: „Can you put on the camera? I, I’d like to see your face.“

Asahi toyed with the idea of saying no, but it couldn’t get much more pathetic for him than it already had, could it? So he tapped the camera and speaker button. He smiled reflexively when Minako’s face blinked up on the screen. Her hair was gathered up in the messiest of buns, and even through the camera he could tell that he had interrupted her mid-eyebrow plucking. It was good to see her face.

She dredged up a smile, too, but Asahi could tell it took some effort. Her uneven eyebrows drew together. „Fucking hell, man,“ she said, which was comment enough on his appearance.

Her gaze must have settled on something, because she suddenly burst out, „Asahi! Your neck!“ His eyes flicked to the mirror. He already knew what he would see, but it still made him wince. Noya had not drawn blood, at least. The imprint of his teeth was pressed into his scent gland like a wax seal, a perfect wreath of oval indentations. At the sight, a hodge-podge of conflicting feelings boiled up in his stomach, strongest of which was the pleasure of being marked so blatantly. Asahi wanted to wrap his hands around that feeling and choke it.

„I, can I see it?“ He raised his phone up to his neck, and Minako sucked in a breath. „Holy shit. Asahi, you better tell me that was consensual.“

He frowned. „Yes? I, I mean he didn’t ask me, but -“ He swallowed. „I wanted it.“

It felt like an admission of defeat, complete with an embarrassed flush and everything. „I’m just kind of regretting it now,“ he added, voice thick. 

„Okay,“ Minako said, „Okay. Well. That’s…“ She trailed off and bit her lip in concentration. „Do you have a scent-blocker? Like those band-aids?“

„I don’t know,“ he mumbled, dug around in his toiletry bag. „I have normal band-aids.“

„How many? Big enough to tape over the bite?“

„I think so.“

Minako nodded. „Okay. You got aftershave, right? Put some on the, on the white gauze-y part in the middle and stick it over the bite. Tell people it’s a scent blocker if they ask.“

Asahi did as she told him. In the end, two band-aids were enough to cover the afflicted area. He just stuck on the second one when Minako started to say, „That… Asahi, that kind of bite-“

„I know,“ Asahi interrupted her, because he did. He knew that this wasn’t just a bite. He knew that this was a declaration, an expression of _intent_. That if he was an Omega, people would tease him about his imminent bonding by the time his next heat rolled around.

„It doesn’t mean anything,“ he said, ignoring the thrashing fish in his gut.

„I’m not so sure,“ Minako replied.

Asahi felt his jaw lock up. „It doesn’t mean anything, because it didn’t mean anything to him. Noya is a slave to his fucking instincts, he, he could have pissed all over me, and it wouldn’t have meant anything because it doesn’t matter if you’re just doing whatever your instincts tell you to do.“

His voice cracked a little at the end, so he snapped his mouth shut and soaped up his wash cloth. The act evoked a sense of déjà vu in him, minus the crying.

Since his phone was lying on the sink, Minako saw nothing but the bathroom lights while he could see her furrowed brows. „I guess I don’t really know Nishinoya, so, yeah. But I think you should talk to him about it.“

Asahi washed traces of spunk and spit from his face.

„You’re not going to,“ Minako noted.

„No,“ Asahi confirmed. 

„But maybe-“

„So he can explain to me how fucking meaningless that bite was?“ he hissed, scrubbed the wash cloth over every inch of his chest. Just saying the word had his eyes burning again. God, this was just so stupid, so utterly fucking ridiculous and humiliating. What kind of messed up person let themselves be treated like this _twice_? He fiercely rubbed the cloth over his face.

There was silence on the other end of the line as he cleaned and dried the rest of himself. „I’m gonna brush my teeth,“ he announced before squeezing out a dollop of tooth paste on his brush and sticking it in his mouth. Asahi kind of suspected that Minako would use his temporary muteness to convince him to talk to Noya, but instead she asked, „You’re sure about this fake dating thing?“

He propped his phone up against his toiletry bag. Just this morning, he’d felt like he was betraying his own feelings by agreeing to it. But obviously that was horseshit, because nobody gave a shit about him and his feelings, why the fuck should he care about it. So Asahi looked at his phone, brushed his teeth and nodded.

„Okay,“ Minako said slowly, „I guess we can talk about specifics later, just. It’s no problem if you want to back out at any point.“

Asahi rinsed his mouth and nodded again.

After a moment, Minako held her hand up in a handshake. „Looking forward to dating your ugly mug.“

Asahi huffed a laugh through a fresh practice shirt. Once he pulled it over his head, he stuck his hand towards his phone. „Likewise,“ he said, and they shook hands through the camera.

Swiftly, he gathered his things and walked back to their dorm. He put his phone down on the floor next to his messy bag. As he tucked everything back and zipped it up, Minako watched his every move. It made Asahi smile a little, despite himself. He picked up his phone, looked at Minako’s concerned face.

„How are you feeling?“ she asked.

Well, that was easy. „Like shit.“ He was a little proud that at least his voice didn’t waver.

„Asahi,“ Minako said, „I just… Nothing you did was wrong. You’re not stupid for acting on your feelings, or for having those feelings, or… for those feelings not to be returned.“

In his mind, he recalled the feeling of warm nothing on his lips and felt pretty damn stupid.

When Asahi didn’t reply, Minako sighed. „Okay, just… you’ll be fine going to practice now?“

He shrugged, because he honestly had no idea.

„If it’s a shit show, you come straight back here, dial my number, and we’ll watch videos of cats getting brain freeze together, okay?“

Asahi smiled. He wasn’t really sure how that was supposed to work with them being in completely different cities, but answered, „Sounds like a plan.“

„You better call me after practice. And tomorrow. And all of the days while you’re at training camp, and then we’re gonna meet up as soon as you’re back in Karasuno.“

„Okay, mom.“

„That’s gay mom to you, mister.“

Asahi snorted, and Minako grinned in response. She wriggled her wonky eyebrows into the camera. „Destroy them at practice, big guy. Talk to you later.“

„Talk to you later. And thank you.“ Asahi had the urge to tell her what a good friend she was, but postponed it to a later point. Daichi would probably sniff him out and hunt him down if he didn’t show up at the gym soon.

He hung up his phone and left their dorm. Back at the entrance leading to the gym, he collected his shoes, jammed them on his feet. A few members from different teams loitered around the pathways. They paid Asahi no mind while he walked towards gym number three. The guard net swayed in the open gym door. From inside resounded the screeching of sneakers, the shouts for tosses and laughter. Asahi reached out to part the guard net.

„A… Asahi-San.“

He flinched. Weird that he hadn’t seen Noya. Asahi wasn’t sure what kind of expression he should attempt, then decided he didn’t care and turned around.

It was clear that Noya had cleaned up as well. His shorts were new, as was his shirt. The scent of his rut had faded a little, although whether that was due to a shower or busting his knot in Asahi’s mouth remained unclear. Noya looked straight at him for two seconds, then his eyes landed on the patches stuck over his scent gland. His face twisted, colored to the roots of his hair. Shamefaced, Noya looked to the ground, and the dying fish writhed in his entrails.

A coldness settled over Asahi. He didn’t even have to care about this. Noya didn’t, so why should he.

„Nishinoya-San,“ he said. Noya’s eyes lifted from the ground.

For a couple moments, nobody said anything. Then Noya blurted, „Is, is your neck okay?“

Asahi nodded. „Yes, it’s alright. I just put some scent blockers over the mark.“

Noya’s brows twitched on the last word, and Asahi wanted to grit his teeth. „I’ll say it’s because of your rut, if somebody asks,“ he added.

„Oh,“ Noya said.

A few more moments passed. Noya’s gaze flicked over his face, his torso, before settling back on his neck. „I’m sorry. For biting you. I… I don’t know why I did it, just. In the moment, I-“

„It’s alright. You don’t have to apologize.“

Noya swallowed. „But it must have hurt.“

 _Not as much as you rejecting my kiss did_. „A little, but that’s okay.“ After a beat, he added, „Like you said, it happens.“

Noya looked at him. When Asahi didn’t continue, he just said, „I mean yeah, you’re right, I guess I just… I just don’t know why, I mean you were on your knees and-“

God, _no_. „You were in rut. There was an Alpha that threatened you, and you fought. Your instincts just went through the roof, that’s it. This is no different than last time.“

Noya opened his mouth, closed it. „Yeah, I guess, just… maybe-“

„Nishinoya-San.“

Noya stared at him. Asahi wasn’t exactly sure what he was seeing on his face, but whatever it was couldn’t wipe away that distressed look on Noya’s face.

But, well, what did he care. „It’s okay, don’t worry. You’re in rut, there is no reason for what you did. It didn’t mean anything.“ His voice was perfectly even when he said, „It’s all good.“

Asahi didn’t think he’d ever lied so blatantly in somebody’s face before. Noya kept staring at him, brows furrowing in a tight line. Asahi hunched his shoulders. For a heartbeat, he saw eyes so sharp they cut his skin and fingers clenched tight around a broom handle.

But then Noya’s face relaxed into a smile. „Yeah, you’re right, of course. I just… I mean, we’re good, right?“

Hope brightened his features. A light shone from his smile, his eyes, his cheeks. Noya was so incredibly handsome that something soft wriggled out of the pit of Asahi’s feelings. He turned towards the gym door.

„Yes, we’re good,“ Asahi confirmed as he strangled that feeling until it stopped twitching.

He passed through the guard net into the gym. His team was practicing in their usual manner, shouting and sweating in worrying amounts. A volleyball came careening towards him as soon as he entered the court, and he barely caught it before it hit him square in the chest.

„Welcome back, Slacker-Chan!“ Suga shouted from the other side of the net. So his absence had definitely been noticed.

He chuckled nervously, watched Daichi walking towards him. His eyes jumped from Asahi to Noya back to Asahi. „You okay? You left kind of abruptly, and then Noya… What happened to your neck?“

„Nothing,“ Asahi answered. He’d already rehearsed in his head what he would say and recited it word for word. „Noya came around to find me, and we talked. He said that my scent was irritating to him when he was in rut, so I put some blockers on my scent gland.“

Daichi’s nose crinkled. „Kind of just smells like your aftershave?“

Asahi smiled crookedly. „I didn’t really have any scent-blockers, so I used normal band-aids. And my aftershave.“

A few seconds passed. „And what else happened?“ Daichi finally asked.

Asahi shrugged his shoulders. „Nothing.“

„Awww man, what bullshit is this!“ They both turned their heads to see Tanaka rubbing Noya’s scalp aggressively. „I never had a rut that only lasted a day! Fuckin’ lucky!“

Noya’s reply was too quiet to hear, but his laughter was definitely audible. His eyes swiped over to Asahi briefly. There was the hope from earlier, but muddied, chipped. Asahi wondered at that, but oh right, he didn’t give a shit.

„Huh,“ Daichi commented, eyes still on their hooligan duo, „Only one day. That’s rare.“

Asahi replied, „Happened to me last time.“

He turned around again and walked to Suga, ball clutched in his hands. The fish in his innards lay tangled, cold and dead. It would take a while, but at some point it would rot away with the rest of his feelings, and that would be good.

Yes, that would be good.

**Author's Note:**

> I am not done with this. Already more than 25K, and I am still not done. I kind of want to shoot myself, but I also still have so many ideas for this. Well, anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! A little bit more heartache, but now we're getting to the getting together part. I hope... you're excited...?
> 
> Thank you very much for reading!!


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